Earth Versus the Power Hunters
by The Universal Storyteller
Summary: This is a new story that'll fuse at least Sailor Moon with Love Hina, if not also with any other fandoms as well. Things won't always be as you might expect in terms of details from the applicable canons, either. There'll be many differences, in time, and some familiar people or things may be mixed around here, if not absent. Other elements here will be original ones, for sure.
1. Earth Knight's First Fight

What if things happened at least a bit differently after Queen Serenity used the power of her Imperium Silver Crystal to place all those she sent forward in time in suspended animation of a sort? And what if Sailor Moon was not the first one to awaken as a fighter once the Negaverse began to stir again after its forces and its leaders were sealed away by Queen Serenity? Who then would be the first ones to awaken and fight, and what would their respective powers be, and would they each then be able to fight well enough until Sailor Moon was awakened to fight as a Sailor against the Negaverse, somehow, with or without enough good help from anyone else in their lives?

This story will explore at least a few, if not many, of a myriad number of possibilities that might arise in such a situation, everyone. There certainly will be some familiar faces, and some unfamiliar ones, but not all the people you may be more familiar with will be either Sailors or Knights later. At least not for a while, if ever, anyway, that is.

All characters in this story or its related series of stories are mine, or are the property of others, as the case might then be, for each of them. If they are not my characters, I claim no ownership of them, et cetera, of course, for the obvious reasons, everyone. While I may do some things similar to how they were done in various Sailor Moon-related canons, at least, there will certainly be at least some differences from such established canons in this story or its related series of stories, to be sure.

And certain people will not necessarily awaken as fighters in the order or orders you might normally expect them to, based on when they were awakened in the applicable canons, either, for that matter. Instead, some may awaken later or earlier than they did in those canons, if they did so, for sure, everyone.

I hope you all will eventually enjoy this story, and will ultimately read and review and follow it as often as possible, of course. Flames will not be accepted, but constructive reviews will be considered and greatly appreciated by me, for sure, by the way. If you have any questions, within reason, please ask them in a review or through a private message, then, if and whenever possible, then, if you like, and I will try to answer them as best as I can, whenever possible, and however possible.

With no further ado, then, this story will now begin. Happy reading, and God bless, Lord willing, then.

* * *

_Earth Versus the Power-Hunters_

By The Universal Storyteller

* * *

_Earth Knight's First Fight_

* * *

It was a bright late summer morning in Tokyo, Japan, when Darien Shields went to college for the first day of his college's school year. Darien was a pre-medical student just beginning his junior year in college that day. On the way there, he met up with his friend Motoki Furuhata, who was also a pre-medical student. But Motoki was not studying to be the same kind of doctor that Darien was studying to be. Darien was studying to become a cardiologist, instead of an otolaryngologist as Motoki was studying to be at that time.

Darien and Motoki had known each other for about two years, ever since Darien had begun college as a freshman shortly after his 18th birthday as an American student coming overseas, at the behest of a long-time Japanese penpal of his. That penpal had written to Darien and received letters from him for many years, since their respective parents had been lost in tragic accidents around the same times in both their lives, after having been put in touch with each other through orphanages both had been placed in after those accidents.

Ever since, that penpal, who also knew Motoki personally, had often corresponded with Darien. Even as they both continued to cope with their respective parents' losses in their lives, they had. And both had eventually met each other about a year after Darien first came to Japan for college. Now, they were beginning to spend a lot more time with each other as they continued attending college in their lives, and not just with Motoki, either, as close friends to each other.

"Darien, what are your plans for tonight, after classes end today, by the way?" asked Motoki, a blond with short chin-length hair that was slightly tousled at the current moment.

"Well, Motoki, I was thinking of just riding my motorcycle for a while, and maybe going out to eat later, if at all possible. Why do you ask?"

"Well, Reika and I were hoping you and Mamoru would perhaps be willing to go on blind dates tonight with two girls studying as art majors, if that was all right with you both."

"And have you asked Mamoru yet if he'd be interested in such an idea?"

"No, but Reika was planning to when she and Mamoru were in their chemistry class later today, Darien."

"I see. And when were we supposed to perhaps meet these young women, then?"

"By 7:30, if I remember correctly, at the Crown Arcade."

"I'll think about it, then. In the meantime, we both need to get to our respective classes, Motoki."

"Of course, Darien. Call me if you decide to come along with us and meet the young ladies we've picked out for you and Mamoru to spend time with tonight. Have a good day."

"You too, and I will, Motoki, if I can and want to."

Then Darien and Motoki soon parted, once they were both on their college's campus as needed. And they didn't see each other again most of the time the rest of the school day, except during a brief early afternoon stop in their college's Student Union for some lunch. And only for a little while, at that time.

Darien left the campus by 3 pm, and set off for his apartment. He spent about an hour to himself there before heading out again from it, and he was then heading to the Crown Arcade for some coffee when he unexpectedly encountered a blonde girl with a rather unusual hairstyle for herself. As he was still heading there, a briefcase suddenly flew out from somewhere near him and unexpectedly smacked him in the head, knocking him down to the ground, face-first. His stomach and knees quickly followed behind his head and the rest of his body. And he was quite surprised when he finally realized what had just happened well enough here. Even though he was still a bit out of it and still wondering a little about how it came to be just that way here, he was.

The girl who had thrown it carelessly and unknowingly in his direction was just a shade under five feet tall and just under 100 pounds in weight. But she had still somehow hurled it with quite a lot of force, just the same. When she realized what she'd just done, she hurried to where her briefcase had just landed, after first locating it well enough. And she soon saw Darien sprawled out as he then was, not yet sure of what hit him well enough. For he was still a bit out of it, due to the sudden force of her briefcase's impact somewhat near the back of his head mere moments before.

"Sir, are you all right?" asked the girl, hoping she hadn't accidentally killed someone, seeing as her briefcase had quite a few things in it at the current time. She began to get concerned after he didn't answer for about five minutes. But eventually he began to stir here, and wonder what happened just now.

"Umm, who are you, and why am I here?" asked Darien, after he finally realized that he was down on the ground sufficiently well here.

"Umm, I'm sorry, but I unintentionally hit you with my briefcase a little while ago, after I threw it from somewhere near here. I threw it because I was really mad at myself for messing up on a number of my tests today, sir. I really didn't mean to hurt you, as it seems that I've now done."

"Who are you, then, Meatball Head?"

"I'm not a Meatball Head, my name is Serena Moon. Although I do admit I wasn't really smart to look where I was throwing things just a bit ago here, sir. Do you know who you are?"

"Darien Shields, it seems, according to this driver's license I see in front of me now. Serena Moon, you said your name was?"

"Yes, I am Serena Moon. I hope you won't be mad at me for this, though, sir."

"Just don't throw anything else my way needlessly, Moon-san, if you can avoid it, and I think we can forget about this incident. Somehow, I have a feeling, though, that we may see much of each other in the future, although I can't really understand why. At least not yet, if I ever will, that is."

"I'll try, Muffin."

"Muffin?"

"Huh?"

"You just called me Muffin, for some reason. It seems familiar, somehow. Are you sure we've never met before?"

"Positive, Shields-san. Are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know. Do you have any plans to make up for this, perhaps, at some point?"

"How do you mean?"

"Think we could get a bite to eat somewhere every so often? I know just the place that might be up your alley, so to speak, if you're interested in video games, as it seems you are, seeing as there's a video game sticking out of one of your briefcase's side pockets just a little bit now."

"I'll think about it, Shields-san. Sorry for hitting you with my briefcase like I did earlier. Are you going to be fine, though, if I leave you alone again?"

Darien slowly got to his feet, under Serena's watchful blue eyes, then looked around for a bit, trying to get his bearing well enough at the present time, before saying, eventually, "I think so. It seems I was heading to the Crown Arcade when your briefcase hit me like it did. Thankfully it wasn't a boulder you sent my way, though. Or I probably would still be down on the ground, at least, of course."

"I did throw it very fast and very carelessly, sir."

"I've dealt with worse circumstances before than this. Don't worry yourself about it, Moon-san."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I think so. Just try not to hit anyone else like this needlessly again, if you can possibly avoid it somehow, Meatball Head."

"I'm not a Meatball Head."

"But your hair looks like meatballs, come to think of it."

"No, it doesn't. Oh, forget it. I better get home before my mother blows a gasket and wonders why I'm home later than normal here and now, I suppose. See you around, Muffin."

"I'm not a Muffin."

"If you're going to call me a Meatball Head, then maybe I should call you a Muffin, or maybe even a Mophead, for some reason."

"Mophead? I don't get it."

"I don't either. But still, maybe your head looks like a mop head, at least in some way. Though I don't exactly know why that might be the case here, for some yet-unknown reason."

Darien soon gathered up his things, as she then left, before eventually continuing on his way to the Crown Arcade as originally planned here. When he got there, Motoki soon asked, "What happened to you, Darien? Your face looks a little beat up, at least. Did you get in a fight or something?"

"A strange girl hit me with her briefcase by accident. And I got knocked to the ground by it, it seems. Not only that, I fell on my face, and stuff, at that."

"I see. And is she cute?"

"Motoki, I'm not looking for another girl to date. So you can just forget about trying to set me up with someone, like you often do, from what I've heard about you in the past, other than the one that you might want me to blind-date later."

"Come on, Darien, lighten up. You can't always be solitary, you know."

"Why not?"

"Too many cute and intelligent young women out there to see, of course."

"I'd rather be dark and mysterious to them, and not give my heart away needlessly, Motoki. I don't want to hurt again a lot. And you may know why."

Motoki thought for a moment, then said, "What would your parents want for you, most likely, in your life, Darien?"

"For me to be happy, I suppose."

"And don't you think that having a good young lady at your side might help you be happy with your life, at least to some degree?"

"What does that have to do with anything at all here?"

"She can help you heal from your loss, I'm sure, somehow, Darien."

"Well, I prefer my privacy as much as possible."

"Your life will get boring rather quickly if you just shut yourself into a prison of your own making, Darien. And you don't really need that to happen at all in your life, I'm quite sure."

"Please save me the psychiatric or psychological flimflam, Motoki, and just give me a coffee, straight black. For class was really tough for me today, and I just got smashed by what seemed like a fifty-pound weight, but which was actually about ten or so pounds, if I remember correctly enough somehow."

"Fine. You're lucky, then, quite lucky, that I'm not going into the fields of psychiatry or psychology, I think, but into the field of otolaryngology, Darien."

"I suppose so." Motoki soon poured Darien a cup of coffee, as requested. Then Darien soon sat down and began to sip it quietly for a while. As he sipped his coffee, Darien also did a little studying for one of his classes, most specifically a chemistry class, here and there, for a while. Eventually, Darien finished his cup, then paid Motoki for it as needed, before leaving the Crown Arcade behind here for the rest of the night. Or at least that was his plan, anyway, whether or not that somehow would prove to actually be the case for him during it, anyway.

* * *

He soon went back to his apartment somewhere nearby, and did more studying. Even while preparing himself some food for his supper or watching television for a bit, he did so. At least he did so, anyway, until he was quite unexpectedly joined in his apartment by a peacock and a hedgehog. For they had just quite suddenly indeed then entered it through his television. When they both did so, it then seemed to him that his television had somehow just been turned into a portal of some yet-unknown sort without his prior knowledge by someone or something not yet known to him sufficiently well.

As soon as the peacock and hedgehog both realized what had just happened and had both gotten their bearings well enough in his apartment, they both looked at each other briefly, before telepathically agreeing that the peacock should speak first vocally here to Darien somehow. That then agreed, the peacock soon said, "Arise, Earth Knight, and prepare for battle against a great and returning evil seeking to take over your world again!"

As soon as Darien heard those words, he quickly turned around, after setting down the spatula he was using to make an omelette with, and went to try to find the source of the yet-unfamiliar voice elsewhere in his apartment. He soon saw two animals in his apartment in front of his television. One on his sofa, and one on the floor near the sofa, with the peacock standing on the floor, and the hedgehog on the sofa, that hadn't been in his apartment even five minutes earlier, for sure. When he found them, he wondered where they had come from, and why they were here in his apartment, of course. He soon tried to find out if they were alive or not, or if they were just stuffed animals or something.

As he began to examine them, starting with the peacock, he suddenly heard, "Hey, watch the feathers, Tuxedo Mask, I don't want to lose any."

Not yet knowing what was going on, he soon stopped poking around on the peacock, and began to examine the hedgehog, while also thinking someone was perhaps trying to play a trick on him somehow. As he did with the peacock, he also tried to do with the hedgehog, still thinking someone had somehow silently sneaked into and out of his apartment while his back was still turned away from the door and beginning to prepare himself some supper.

The hedgehog remained silent for a little while, at least, but eventually spoke vocally as well, after Darien started poking around his hindquarters and private area. They said, "That's more than enough poking, Darien. And, by the way, you might want to turn off your stove. Simply because you're not going to be here much longer soon, at least for now."

"Where are your off-switches, you toys?"

"We are not toys," said the peacock. "We are here to awaken you to the danger that even now is arising to try and take over your world again."

"Who are you, and who sent you, and what are you doing here?"

"We are Wanderer," said the peacock.

"And Seeker," added the hedgehog.

"We were sent here by an ally you will eventually come to meet, if you survive long enough," said Wanderer, a mostly blue and green peacock.

"And we are here because we were sent here through your television by that same ally using a device that you will eventually learn about as well." added Seeker, a mostly black hedgehog.

"Not to mention the fact that we also will have to also initiate you as a protector of your own world here and now, it seems," said Wanderer.

"And to also train you as such at least until such time as others you meet then ultimately come to assist you in that sort of thing," commented Seeker.

"And to give you certain things that may help you do so well enough," added Wanderer.

"While the struggle or struggles that you are now going to have to go through still continue, whether or not others are helping you during it or them, for that matter, Darien," finished Seeker.

"I don't want to fight. Get out of here," said Darien, as he quickly turned off his stove, and did whatever else he'd then have to do in his kitchen area.

"Sorry, you have to fight, Darien, or your world could very well be destroyed or conquered," said Wanderer.

"We will not get out of here until we have made you what you need to be, either, for that matter," said Seeker.

"And just how do you two plan to do that, seeing as you're most likely just mere stuffed animals?" asked Darien.

"We are not mere stuffed animals or toys, we are sentient animals," said Wanderer.

"And we'll prove it by having you say, 'Jeweled Rose Power!'" said Seeker.

"What good will that do here?"

"You'll see, Darien," said Wanderer.

"But just do it!" said Seeker.

"Fine, if it will get you to go away, then I will!" shouted Darien. "Jeweled Rose Power!" As soon as he shouted those words, he suddenly found himself transforming, and donning a fighting uniform that was some sort of fusion of a formal outfit and a suit of armor. While it primarily looked like a formal outfit, some hints of it being a fusion of a formal outfit and a suit of armor were still visible here and now. It mainly had a blue and green color scheme for the more armor-like parts of it, and black and white for the more formal outfit-looking parts of it. A white half-mask covered his face, while the suit's tuxedo-style jacket, trousers, and shoes were black, his shirt white, his bowtie and cummerbund mostly blue and green, and his cape mostly black with occasional Earth-related symbols primarily in blue and green on one side and red with such symbols on the other. Blue and green Earth symbols were present as well as cufflinks for his outfit, and jeweled mostly red roses were in both his suit jacket's lapels, On his left hip, under part of his tuxedo-style jacket, there was a quite intricately decorated scabbard with a long sword in it, and a holder for an expandable cane/walking stick just outside that scabbard and sword.

By the time he was done transforming, he soon noticed that both Wanderer and Seeker had found the doors to his balcony, and were at them, as if they wanted him to open said doors. "Now what do you two want?"

"Open the doors to your destiny," began Wanderer.

"And you will eventually find what your heart most seeks, if you somehow survive long enough in your life. People are in great danger, and only you can help them at this time, it seems," said Seeker.

Earth Knight then moved to his balcony's doors, and opened them. As soon as he did, both animals moved onto his balcony, and then looked out over the city, trying to pinpoint where they'd all have to go in order to first battle evil on the current evening or night. He obviously followed them, of course, and then Wanderer suddenly hopped over a railing on his balcony, and called out, "Wanderer Power, Engage!" He quite unexpectedly transformed into some sort of flying mechanized transport, and then faced towards the balcony closely enough for him to touch it and open his mouth.

When Earth Knight saw that, he soon said, "You can't be serious. I'm not entering his mouth."

"You have to, Earth Knight," said Seeker. "We need to get to a jewelry store as soon as possible, or lives will be lost, most likely, or at least greatly endangered. Wanderer will take us there."

"How?"

"We'll explain on the way as best as we can, or soon after, if at all possible," said Wanderer, with a more computerized sound then to his voice compared to how it sounded just minutes before. "Now get inside my head before people see us. I can't keep most other people around here from seeing me like this much longer, while we're still dilly-dallying here, Earth Knight."

"This is nuts," said Earth Knight as he then picked up Seeker and reluctantly entered the now-transformed Wanderer through his mouth as then needed here and now.

"Maybe so, but you'll still get used to it in time, perhaps," said Seeker. Seeker then quickly escorted Earth Knight to a command center of sorts in Wanderer's head, so that he could see better where Wanderer would be taking them, of course. As he did so, Wanderer then quickly began flying invisibly towards the necessary jewelry store elsewhere in Azabu Juuban, and soon landed on its roof as needed. Once he did so, he soon opened his mouth to let both Earth Knight and Seeker out. Then Seeker suddenly transformed himself into a watch of some sort, before telling Earth Knight to put him on. While Seeker was still doing that, Wanderer then took the form of a decoration of some sort on Earth Knight's cummerbund, at least temporarily.

"How are you two able to do that?"

"Sorry, have to tell you later. Now you have to get to the Osaka/Baker Jewelry Shoppe to save those in danger now. And you must hurry! Quick, quick, Earth Knight," said Seeker. Earth Knight soon spotted a covered stairway leading to the roof he was then on, and opened the first door he then saw, before passing through it. Quickly being guided to the ground floor of the building by both his guardians, he soon found a monster of some yet-unfamiliar sort then apparently in the process of trying to strangle a young girl somehow, once he'd ultimately found the proper room or place to go to in the building.

What he then saw was a rather large serpentine and female-looking monster with often-scaled skin, many eyes, and several visible bone spurs at the present time, not to mention some humanoid-like arms and hands at the present time, at least. And many other people were currently lying on the floor, as if they were at least unconscious, if not actually dead, from what Earth Knight could then tell well enough.

He soon shouted, "Let that girl go, you big ugly thing!"

The monster turned her head almost all the way around, and looked for the source of the voice, before she spotted him here well enough. By this time, Wanderer and Seeker had left his cummerbund and wrist respectively, and re-transformed into forms more naturally-appearing here, but still considerably larger than they each had been in Darien's apartment some time before. The monster, which Darien soon would come to know as a frequently Negaverse-affiliated kind of being called an Anidoa, soon asked him, "Who are you, and why are you interrupting me as I feast on the energy of all these people?"

Earth Knight thought very briefly indeed, and then said, in a very loud voice, "I am Earth Knight, you big ugly thing! I don't care what you are, and who you are, the Earth cries out for your destruction as soon as possible! Let that girl go, and prepare to die, you vile monster!"

"You can't talk to me, Gomirau, servant of the High Queens, like that! Arise, my fellow servants, and eliminate this fool from his planet, for the glory of the Negaverse!" As soon as the monster said that, all the people who'd just been on the floor apparently unconscious or worse soon rose and began mindlessly moving towards him. Earth Knight soon found himself drawing both his sword and cane to try and fend them off from their eventual pursuing of him here. Of course, he tried not to hurt them, for obvious reasons here and now, quite naturally enough, even while still taking at least a few hits from many of them. As he was still doing so, he suddenly switched his sword temporarily to his left hand, stowed away his cane, and reached into an interior pocket for his tuxedo's suit jacket with his right hand for some roses in what he'd come to know as a subspace pocket. That done, he quickly withdrew those roses and began throwing them at the people now attacking him, while also saying, "Earth Power, Release!"

The roses suddenly began creating a rather strong telepathy-related disruption field of some sort, which soon overcame the quite substantial amount of mental control that Gomirau had just been exerting over those then under her control, Especially after Wanderer and Seeker had begun to attack her while Earth Knight was then still trying to fend off all his current attackers here. Once her unknowing servants were no longer under her control well enough, for sure, Wanderer and Seeker then backed away from her, and called out to Earth Knight as soon as they could well enough, "Destroy this evil monster now, Tuxedo Mask!"

"How, you two?" asked Earth Knight/Tuxedo Mask.

"Just say whatever comes to mind here, of course!" shouted Wanderer. "For there's at least one other similar being here in this building who you will have to destroy as well, because they typically work in pairs whenever they show up anywhere."

Tuxedo Mask then continued to throw roses here to block potential ranged attacks from Gomirau here, as he then charged her, and tried to avoid being hit by visible bone spurs of hers. When he felt he was close enough to her, he then leaped up, avoiding an attempted grabbing move from her, and raised his sword above his head in mid-leap. Dodging her arms and hands, he then aimed for the center of her head's crown, and hit it on the way down with his sword. His sword pierced her skull, and as he still descended, the sword cut even more of her starting from the middle of her head's crown all the way down to the base of her back. It cut deep, and even sent out projections to do more damage to her as it moved through her body until Tuxedo Mask found a heretofore-unfound button of some sort accidentally somewhere on his sword's handle. That same button quite suddenly and quite unexpectedly then made all those projections quite quickly withdraw back into the blade from the areas of it which they had each come from, and also allowed him to ultimately withdraw his sword from her body, in fact.

When Gomirau realized how badly he had just cut her, she shouted, "You may have killed me now, but I will return, and the Negaverse shall prevail over you, just the same, I'm sure!" Ten seconds after that, at most, Gomirau was merely dust on the ground of the room everyone now present was still in, before that dust suddenly vanished, as if into non-existence or thin air, so to speak, somehow. And just about two more minutes after that, Wanderer and Seeker were both hurrying Tuxedo Mask along so that he could deal with Gomirau's partner/mate in this particular matter that they were somehow now aware of well enough.

It took about another ten minutes or so before they found that other Anidoa. And the ensuing fight then took about another ten or so minutes, more or less. But, eventually, Tamuboga was also dispatched just as Gomirau had been not long before, with the same exact result and vanishing of the dust that Tuxedo Mask had just left behind after destroying him as well. For Tamuboga was not only Gomirau's partner in this mission, but also her male companion of a sort, in fact.

After both Anidoas had been destroyed here and now for sure, Earth Knight soon asked, "Are we done here, then, you two?"

"Yes, we are done here. But there will be other monsters of various kinds you and/or others will eventually have to fight, for sure, Earth Knight, whether you want to or not," said Wanderer.

"Now, I suggest we get out of here before any possible media people or law enforcement people, for instance, show up and see us and want to ask us any questions at all here, in fact," said Seeker.

"Where do I need to go, then, and what do I need to do, in order to get out of this get-up, you two?"

"Remember what you said that made you transform?" asked Wanderer.

"Yes, I think so."

"Say that phrase again, except with the word Stop instead of the word Power. That should allow you to power down well enough, if we're not too mistaken here. Of course, we could be wrong about that sort of thing, but it's at least worth a try here," said Seeker. Even as the three of them quickly then found an empty nearby alley to hide in for at least a few moments, more or less.

Moments later, once it was safe enough for him to do so well enough, Earth Knight powered down and became just Darien Shields again. But before he did, Wanderer and Seeker again hid themselves on his person, just as they'd done not long before. As before, Seeker apparently turned into a watch, but this time, Wanderer turned into a belt and belt buckle, somehow.

After that happened, it wasn't too much longer before Darien was back in his apartment, getting back to preparing himself some supper. And also listening to various phone calls that had come in while he'd been out and about. Especially from Motoki, due to the fact that Darien had not shown up at the Arcade by 7:30 pm as Motoki had hoped he would.

After Darien had his supper, he told Wanderer and Seeker to stay in his apartment, and do nothing else at least until he returned home for the night. That was some length of time after Wanderer and Seeker had both returned to their most common physical enough appearances.

* * *

Darien soon went to the Crown Arcade. Motoki was quite upset with him, not yet knowing why Darien had not shown up earlier. When Darien got there, the Arcade was mostly emptied out. And it was almost 9:30 at night. Only Motoki, Darien, Reika, one waitress, and a few patrons were still left in it after Darien finally showed back up at the Crown Arcade again well enough.

"Darien, you were supposed to make it here in order to go on a blind date with someone tonight."

"I never said for sure that I would come on this blind date to you. I said I'd think about it, nothing more, Motoki. You and Reika want me to date. But I only date when I want to date. And besides, other things came upon me tonight, quite unexpectedly."

"Oh? Do tell!"

"Nope. Not telling you anything!"

"You've told me almost everything about you that you can recall well enough, I believe, before."

"Well, you can hereby file this particular sort of thing under the specific category of CLASSIFIED TOP-SECRET INFORMATION, at least for the time being, if not permanently, for sure. I won't tell you, or at least not yet. For you'd never likely believe me, at least as of this time, Motoki. So don't even bother asking, for your information, here, about it, until such time as I choose to tell you about it, if ever."

"Tell Furuhata-san about what?" said a very-unexpected female voice, suddenly, from the Crown Arcade's main doors.

"Nothing that you need to know about, Usagi-chan. Seems Shields-san doesn't want to share his secrets about where he was tonight when he was supposed to be coming with Reika, me, and a few others tonight on a triple date," said Motoki, with a bit of a smile on his face. Even as Darien then began to turn around to see who had just spoken here to him well enough.

"That's right, and I don't believe we've met before, but you still seem somewhat familiar to me somehow, just the same. Could you have beaned me with a briefcase earlier today?" asked Darien, once he got a good enough look at her at the current time.

"As if! I don't think I've ever seen you before. Who are you anyway?" asked the aforementioned Usagi-chan, a girl of about fourteen years old. Although Darien didn't yet know that about her at all.

"My name is Darien Shields, and a girl with a similar hairstyle to yours seems to have beaned me this afternoon, Miss Who?"

"Well, that girl certainly wasn't me, for sure. Anyway, my name is Usagi Tsukino, by the way."

"I see. Anyway, I just came here to visit for a little while longer with Motoki before I went back home for the rest of the night. Besides, I'm out of ice cream back in my apartment. So I was going to also make a shopping run before the stores closed tonight, anyway."

"What flavor?" asked another girl, who had just entered the arcade as well.

"Chocolate chip ice cream with Gummi Bears in it, if I could find it well enough, somehow, Miss. Oh, it's you, Meatball Head. Shouldn't you be home by now?" asked Darien, once he quickly spotted who'd just spoken here well enough.

"I should be, that's true. But it seems that I left some of my stuff here after one of my friends dragged me here earlier, for some relaxation therapy of a sort, once we were somehow saved from some big monsters at her mother's jewelry store by a masked hero and a pair of strange animals," said Serena. "I told Mom, when I finally got home after that happened and realized that I'd actually done so, that I needed to come back here for my stuff. Even though she prefers that I not be out and about this late at night, she still let me come here for my stuff. Especially because a lot of my school stuff is among the stuff I forgot here, Mophead."

Usagi and Serena soon spotted each other, before Usagi suddenly said, "Strange. It seems like we both have the exact same hairstyle, somehow. Though I don't yet know just why, if I ever will. Not only that, we look almost exactly alike, for that matter, more or less. Have we perhaps ever met before, somehow?"

"I don't think so, Miss Who?" asked Serena.

"Miss Usagi Tsukino, that's who. And you?"

"Serena Moon, to be honest."

"And you two seem to recognize each other. Interesting."

"How so?" asked Darien.

"Well, you just said a girl with a strange hairstyle beaned you with a briefcase this afternoon. Could it be that you ticked her off?"

"No, of course not, Tsukino-san."

"Then perhaps you can tell these young ladies why you were beaned on the head earlier by such a girl, Darien-san," said a dark-haired man who'd just entered the Arcade as well. He was an almost dead-ringer in appearance to Darien here. Except where Darien was wearing a mostly black motorcycle jacket, the other man was wearing a mostly green blazer-style jacket.

"She wasn't watching very well where she was throwing things earlier, Mamoru-san," said Darien.

"And who was that girl, then, if I might ask?" asked Mamoru.

Serena quickly snapped her gaze away from Usagi and towards where she thought the voice came from here, before then seeing Mamoru here. "Another one? Oh, boy! Yikes, two Mopheads?"

"Mopheads, Moon-san?"

"Yes, Tsukino-san, Mopheads."

"More like muffins to me, perhaps, Moon-san."

"You'd know about them, wouldn't you, Odango Atama?" asked Mamoru. "I saw you pigging out on a bag of fifty of them earlier today, it seems, in the park around here, if memory serves?"

"I'm a growing girl, and I need to eat, Mugwump-Baka!" said Usagi.

"You can't be more than ten years or so old, now can you?" asked Mamoru.

"I'll have you know I'm fourteen years old, Mugwumpish Muffin-Baka! And my name isn't Odango Atama, Odango, or anything but Usagi Tsukino, for your information! Can't you get that through your thick head, Baka?"

"Why should I?"

"Because I said so, that's why, you Mugwump!"

Reika soon secretly whispered in Motoki's ear, "I think those two are really going to hit it off with each other in the future."

Just as secretly, as everyone else in the Arcade besides Reika, Motoki, Usagi, Mamoru, Serena, and Darien left it, Motoki asked, "What makes you say that?"

"Can't explain this feeling just yet, but I still seem to get that impression somehow. Not only that, I think that Serena and Darien may themselves do the same, in time. Oh, boy, there they all go, shooting ketchup and mustard at each other now," said Reika, a few moments of silent observation later.

"Oh, dear! We should stop them, then."

"Give them a few minutes to blow off some steam at each other. They've all apparently had a very difficult day for each of them, I think, from what I can tell here well enough."

"My parents are going to be very upset if this place gets too messy before we open tomorrow, you know."

"Let's give them about five more minutes, then move in."

"I hope you know what you're doing here, Reika-chan."

"Trust me, they alll will be very closely linked together. I can't understand why, just yet. But I still have this very strange feeling that they all will be somehow, in time, Motoki-kun."

So Motoki, even though he was at least a little bit skeptical of what she was now telling him, waited just about five more minutes before doing or saying anything at all to them all, just as Reika had recommended he do. After that time passed, he soon said, "Everyone out, if you don't want to stay after here, and help us clean up this mess that you four just caused here."

Right after Motoki said that, the four battlers almost immediately fled from the arcade, and left Motoki all alone with Reika in it. After they were all gone, Motoki asked, "Do you think you could stay at least long enough to help me clean up their mess before you go?"

"I think that can be arranged. I don't have anything else planned for a while longer tonight. So why not, Motoki-kun? I'd be glad to help you clean up after the lovebirds."

"Lovebirds? More like scrapping dogs and cats, I'd probably say, I think, Reika-chan."

Much to their great surprise, it then took no more than about another 35 minutes or so after the battlers left the Arcade behind for the rest of the night for Reika and Motoki to put the whole place in order. Even in parts of it that the battlers hadn't been having a food fight with each other in at all. Once the whole Arcade and the whole attached Restaurant were both completely cleaned, Reika soon left. Then Motoki went quite happily right on up to his family's residence situated just above the arcade for the rest of the night.

As for the battlers, each soon went to sleep in their own respective homes in various parts of Azabu Juuban, quite naturally enough. And so they each remained. Or at least until such time as they'd then need to wake up again in them the following day, whenever that might be for each and every single one of them, anyway, for sure, in their own respective mortal lives.

* * *

End of Chapter One

* * *

This concludes the first chapter of this story here. Hope you all enjoyed it, folks. Please stay tuned for Chapter Two, which will be called _The Raging Eramcelers_, in fact. At least a few more characters should appear for the first time in the next chapter, for sure. Will Darien be finding himself fighting again, or not, even if he really doesn't like the idea of doing so at all? How will he deal with his new and quite-unexpected animal companions and the others he's not yet all that familiar with in his life? Will the Negaverse do better with its next attempt to gain a foothold of sorts on Earth, somehow, or not? Please read on to find out. TUS out.


	2. The Raging Eramcelers

In the last chapter, we met several characters who will play important parts in what will happen later in this story and potential future series of related stories. Among them were Darien Shields, Serena Moon, and Motoki Furuhata, to name a few. Several new characters will first appear in this chapter. Not all of them will play major parts in this story, mind you all, at least at first. But there will still be at least one or two who will soon enough in it. You will come to meet them in a bit, when needed, for sure.

In the last chapter, a chapter called _Earth Knight's First Fight_, we saw Darien encounter not only Serena rather unexpectedly indeed, we also saw him encounter two strangely sentient animals, two monsters, and any number of other people being held captive by the aforementioned monsters. The strangely sentient animals somehow turned him into a superhero of sorts. Much to his great surprise and great reluctance at that time, ultimately. And he found himself and them soon engaging the two monsters they then encountered for a while, at least. After which, he eventually destroyed both monsters, once they were weakened enough to be killed where they then were.

After the battle he and they had just fought, he'd eventually powered down, and gone to the Crown Arcade for a little while. Whereupon he quite unexpectedly indeed then saw not only Serena again, but another girl who looked a lot like her and another guy who looked like him. Which soon led to a food fight for a while, before Motoki got them all to leave the Arcade for the rest of the night by telling them all that they'd then have to help clean up if they stayed there too much longer.

Darien and each of the others soon went to their respective residences, and they all stayed in them from then on. That is where we left them all, in this story, as a result. But rest assured, those places are not where we're going to rejoin them at all, folks.

* * *

Keitaro Urashima - second-year college student at the University of Tokyo/landlord/co-manager of the Hinata Apartments, nineteen years old, brownish-black hair, brown eyes, wears glasses, now married to the former Shinobu Maehara as of July 1990, part-time artist/archeologist if and whenever possible, very hard worker, very loyal, very dedicated, once not very popular, still somewhat unpopular among certain people, can be quite clumsy indeed at times, and quite forgetful, moderately fit and somewhat attractive, still a bit naive about a number of things in his life. (01/05/1971)

* * *

Shinobu (Maehara) Urashima - high school senior/co-manager of the Hinata Apartments, seventeen years old, purplish-blue hair, purplish-blue eyes, now married to Keitaro Urashima, as of July 1990, chief assistant to Keitaro at the Hinata Apartments, excellent chef, once very timid and shy, but being around Keitaro, even since before their marriage, has helped her gradually become less so, still has a tendency to cry and worry, especially when she doesn't understand what's going on well enough, and to run away, but she has been working on that with the help of many others, especially those who live with her and Keitaro, still has some growing to do, but is still very strong physically for her current size, very good-looking, and very smart, hopes to own her own restaurant someday, and maybe even see the world quite a bit, alongside her husband. (11/15/1972)

* * *

Sylvia Wakefield - high school junior/native of Israel, sixteen years old, auburn hair, blue eyes, lives with her family in a different part of Tokyo than Azabu Juuban, somewhat artistic, likes to read and write often, likes to ride horses, quilter, three siblings, is oldest child of her parents, currently unattached, but secretly has her eye on someone who she might be interested in, and who is secretly watching her as well in like manner, very smart, very attractive, very athletic-looking, but can get angry with people if provoked sufficiently enough by them, can speak to at least some degree, if not fluently, a number of languages, drives a van. (01/25/1974)

* * *

Rolando Volois - high school junior/native of Scotland, seventeen years old, black hair, blue eyes, lives with his family in a different part of Tokyo than Azabu Juuban, somewhat interested in theology, other cultures, and sports, to name just a few of his interests, likes to read and write often, four siblings, oldest child of his parents, currently unattached, but secretly has his eye on someone who he might be interested in, and who is secretly watching him as well in like manner, often very serious-minded, not very attractive-looking, a bit forgetful, but still somewhat intelligent when it comes to certain subjects, not very popular with many, and most think him quite weird and/or quite unconventional, often. (02/11/1973)

* * *

Jadeite - Negaverse General tasked with gathering energy towards the reawakening of Queen Metallia, the supreme leader of the Negaverse by Queen Beryl, Queen Metallia's immediate subordinate, blond hair, blue eyes, many other details yet-unknown by most at this time, but will be discovered periodically as more time passes, information to be updated as needed or discovered. (Birthdate unknown)

* * *

Keitaro and Shinobu, along with certain others they typically will associate with in this particular story and/or its potential related series of stories, will be somewhat different from how they are in more canonical versions of Love Hina. Just how they will be, you'll all find out, if you happen to read this story and/or its series for a long enough period of time here. There'll be some similarities to those more canonical versions, at least. But two major differences from those versions are that Shinobu is not only older, to be considerably closer in age to Keitaro, and that she and Keitaro were married while she was still in high school, prior to the start of this story here. Other differences or similarities will show up as the need arises here, folks. While there are those who may prefer other potential romance-type pairings for Keitaro, this particular pairing here is quite NON-NEGOTIABLE in this story and its related series, and WILL NOT BE CHANGED. However, that still does not mean that the other girls of the Hinata Apartments will themselves not have potential boyfriends or husbands later, everyone.

Other couples among certain other characters in this story will be decided upon and/or revealed later, whether they're more canonical or not. Of course, with some of them, I may be open to suggestions for them in relation to yet-unattached characters, everyone. But I will NOT entertain any suggestions for same-gender relationships under any circumstances whatsoever. So don't bother even asking for them at all. For I find them rather icky, to put it very mildly indeed, at least.

Now without further ado, I hereby give you the next chapter of this story, folks. I hope you all like how it turns out here, of course. TUS out.

* * *

_Paparazzi A-Prowling?_

* * *

About three or four days later, on the following Saturday, Darien was riding his mostly black and red motorcycle in a part of Tokyo called Shiranai Engoku Seito Tsuki, which in English, roughly translated as Strange Distant Star Moon, most likely. He was just out for a ride in Tokyo for fun. And he soon found himself in SEST on his semi-random motorized meandering that Saturday morning, which dawned fairly bright and warm, considering it was now late summer in Japan and elsewhere in the world. Darien would often go riding on his favorite motorcycle on Saturdays, more often than on other days of the week, if and whenever he possibly could do just that. And this was one such day when such was the case for him here and now.

Shiranai Engoku Seito Tsuki was a part of Tokyo mostly to the west and/or south of Azabu Juuban. And many people, especially foreigners, were commonly known to live there. It was a somewhat cosmopolitan part of Tokyo, but still had, in many ways, a bit of a much less-populated feel to it. There were any number of businesses and homes, among other things, in SEST. But most such structures were not quite as tall or as extravagant-looking as many such buildings in other parts of Tokyo. For compared to most other parts of Tokyo, SEST had much more of a small town feel, more or less, on average, than they often each did.

Darien eventually passed a several-story building with banners promoting a fashion show scheduled for 6:30 that evening. And he strangely got an unexpected feeling that something wasn't quite right there, not too much later. He didn't know why just yet. But he still didn't like this feeling, just the same. He soon rode a bit longer all over SEST before then starting to scope out the area and try to figure out what was now going on well enough. He ultimately had to leave SEST again, though, at least for a little while. For he now had certain other commitments elsewhere that he had to attend to. But he also decided to come back to SEST by that evening, and try to see better what might actually be going on here well enough. He then returned not much later to Azabu Juuban, and began attending to those other current commitments of his at the present time, in fact.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Darien was still exploring, Sylvia Wakefield, a sixteen-year-old high school junior at Chrysanthemum Trekker Academy in SEST, was painting an animal-filled forest scene featuring a still-young couple walking together leading one horse apiece. The painting was about half-completed.

Sylvia was a rather athletic-looking young woman, with roughly waist-length auburn hair that she normally wore down and unbound. She was of above-average height and weight, and her eyes were blue. She was also fairly good-looking, but many might not necessarily consider her gorgeous, compared to many other women. But that sort of thing wasn't all that important to her. For she wasn't all caught up with trying to be something that she neither wanted, nor needed to be. At least right now in her life, that was the case for her, more often than not.

Sylvia had three siblings, and she was the oldest of her parents' children, with her siblings being, in terms of their chronological age from the oldest to the youngest of her younger siblings, Rebecca, Ulysses, and Martha. Rebecca was about twelve years old or so, Ulysses about ten or so years old, and Martha about seven or so years old, more or less. And their mutual parents were Nigel and Esther Wakefield.

Sylvia and her family had lived in Japan since 1986, after her family had moved there because of her father's employer transferring him there. Her father currently worked for a construction company based in Tokyo, as a bookkeeper, while her mother was primarily a housewife in her own life.

Around Sylvia, she had several shelves well-stocked with books of all kinds about any number of subjects. Especially ones dealing with arts and crafts, theology, and horses. And many pictures of horses in various forms and styles were on her wall, for instance, as well. Some at least somewhat older than certain others were, and several of which she'd created herself, in fact.

Her bed was a four-poster queen-sized bed with all four posts primarily carved with animals, especially horses, on top of a raised platform. Her bedding consisted of white linen sheets under one of the various quilts that she'd finished quite recently, along with some pillowcases that she'd made to match the quilt. The quilt had many patches related to animals on it, and others related to various books she'd read in the past. All told, the quilt had 100 patches on it, with them all being around a moderately-sized circle featuring a man surrounded by various animals inside it in the middle of said quilt.

She painted until Esther unexpectedly knocked on her bedroom door and told her she had a call from her friend Shirubia Weikufiirudo.

"What does she want, Mother?"

"She wants to talk to you about the fashion show scheduled to take place tonight at the Chrysanthemum and Rose Corporation's design studio, it seems."

"I see. Very well, I'll talk to her. Give me five minutes to wash up, and then I'll take the call in my room, Mother."

"Of course, Sylvia." Then Esther left Sylvia alone, as Sylvia quickly cleaned up and washed up as needed. Five minutes later, Sylvia picked up the phone on a bedside table, and answered the phone as she sat in her bed holding a pen in one hand, the phone in the other, and as a pad of paper then sat on her own lap there.

"What's on your mind, Shirubia-san?" asked Sylvia.

Shirubia asked, "Would you be interested in attending a fashion show tonight, or perhaps being a model for some items related to it? It seems some of the people we were planning to have show up and do modeling for it aren't actually going to be able to do that tonight where it'd be held. So I was asked to ask around and see if I can find others who can substitute for them tonight. Might you be interested, then?"

"Rather short notice, wouldn't you say, Shirubia-san?"

"Yes, but it can't be helped. The designers need some people to model for them tonight"

"What does it pay, or how much is admission?"

"If you come there as a model, soon enough before the event tonight, we will pay you the equivalent of 200 American dollars in whatever currency you prefer. If you come there as a spectator just before the event, we can give you two free tickets to use for yourself and one guest. Which would you prefer?"

"When is the event?"

"6:30 in the evening tonight."

"What would I be modeling then?"

"Various casual clothes."

"Meaning?" asked Sylvia, as she made some notes, and did a little bit of drawing as well on her pad of paper.

"Shirts, sweaters, et cetera, along with various skirts or pants as appropriate enough, I believe. I wasn't told much about such things, but they promised me that nobody would be modeling underwear at the show, seeing as they typically design for teens and young adults, more often than not."

"Can I think about it for a bit?" More notes and sketches soon joined the already-existing ones.

"Of course you can. But if you decide you want to model for us, please be at the applicable design studio here in our neighborhood by 3, at the latest. For it probably will take at least a few hours to properly prepare you for the show."

"Fair enough."

Then the two young women soon ended their current conversation, and hung up their respective phones on both ends simultaneously. That done, Sylvia then set the pad of paper and the pen she'd just written and sketched with next to the now-hung-up phone, before briefly heading to her closet to see what she had that might be suitable enough for the day's expected weather. For she was then in a t-shirt and jeans, not yet having left her family's home on the current day.

She dressed to go out, putting on horse-themed clip-on earrings. Sylvia checked herself in the mirror on her dresser for a few moments, generally liking what she saw. Just in case her sisters might look for her while she was out, she also left a note near her door as well, as she left her bedroom.

After telling her mother she was going for a walk of at least an hour or two in length, and getting permission to do so, she soon set off for where the show would take place. She was there by noon, after walking around SEST for a while, not having immediately remembered just where in it the design studio was located, even after having lived in the Tokyo area for roughly four years now.

On arrival at that place, she encountered several other people, none of them her friend Shirubia. Several of them were aliens in disguise, but she didn't know that, for they were currently appearing to be normal human beings. Among those people was the person who had sent the first monsters that had attempted to wreak havoc a few days before at a jewelry shop in Azabu Juuban, working for a group of alien invaders. His name was Jadeite. At the current time, he was going by the alias of Genichi Kurkawa.

Others at the design studio were humans from Earth, however. Among them were all the designers preparing for the fashion show that very evening.

Sylvia eventually asked one of them, somewhat at random here and now, "Do any of you perhaps know someone by the name of Shirubia Weikufiirudo, and if so, do you know when she may be back here later?"

The first designer said, "No," as did a few others. But one of the people she talked to said that she did know her at least to some degree. And that person was a middle-aged woman with hair that looked like it was somehow naturally lavender-colored for herself.

That woman said, as she wore a mostly white dress covered somewhat liberally by chrysanthemum-like designs in various shapes and sizes and colors, "Yes, I know Shirubia-san, Wakefield-san. We've known each other for a number of years, in fact. She's been a friend of my niece Usagi Tsukino ever since Usagi was in second grade and Shirubia was in fourth, although not Usagi's closest friend of all her friends. That closest friend of Usagi's is Naru Osaka, who's most likely known Usagi longer than anyone else in Usagi's circle of friends, it seems to me here and now."

"I see. So you know when she may be back here, then, perhaps, ma'am?"

"Depends on just how long it ultimately takes her to complete the errands that I gave her, at least, you see, Wakefield-san."

"May I ask your name, if it's not too much of an imposition?"

"This isn't my real name, mind you, but you can call me by the name of Chrysanthemum Lady, at least for now," said the woman, after examining Sylvia from head to toe both in the front and in the back for a while, once she got Sylvia's permission to do just that here and now well enough.

"Why for now, at least?"

"Because, Wakefield-san, I have this rather strange feeling somehow that we may very well see much more of each other in the future, for some yet-unknown reason or reasons to us both. And I really don't know just why yet, if I ever somehow will, in fact."

"I see. So, seeing as it's not likely she may return for a while yet, do you mind if I leave here for a little while, and come back later, then, ma'am?"

Chrysanthemum Lady soon said, "That's quite all right. Just be back here by three, if you can, and if you want to potentially be in the show tonight, then, Wakefield-san."

"Understood. See you later, then, perhaps, if at all possible." With that then said, Sylvia soon went shopping for a little while before going back home for lunch with her family for a bit. She picked up some more arts and crafts-related supplies for herself before returning home for lunch.

After lunch, she soon went in search of Shirubia, but didn't find her, even after returning to the design studio's headquarters. Seeing as she couldn't then find her friend, she hoped that her friend was all right. And that she and Shirubia would be able to see each other again very soon, as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, two young men by the name of Rorando Phorusivo and Rolando Volois were shooting hoops with each other. Both young men looked quite similar to each other. But Phorusivo was wearing white and red, while Volois was wearing blue and brown at the current time, in fact.

Both were seventeen years old, and both also attended school at CTA, along with many other students there. They had known each other for about four years, ever since Rolando's family had moved with him to Japan. While Rorando was born, bred, and raised in Japan, Rolando was born and bred in Scotland. And he'd also spent most of his life there, before moving to Japan with his family.

Both young men had black hair and blue eyes, along with beards and moustaches. But Rolando's hair and beard were both at least a little bit bushier or thicker than Rorando's hair and beard. Rolando had the ball, and the current score of their one-on-one game was 15-12, in favor of Rolando.

Rorando asked, "Rolando, do you have any plans for this evening, by any chance?"

"No, why?" asked Rolando, as he drove the lane and went for a layup attempt, which was unsuccessful, but still allowed him to get the rebound and score off it.

"Because I was wondering if you'd be willing either to model some clothes at a fashion show, or to attend it, this evening. Seems my employer needs some models for their clothing tonight, or at least people to see their designs at the fashion show tonight, you see."

"And why might they need me, for instance, to help them out by modeling their clothes?"

"It seems that some of the people we were planning to have show up and do some modeling for it, are not actually going to be able to make it tonight. So I was asked to ask around and see if I can find others who can substitute for those people at the event tonight. Might you be interested, then?"

"I see. And you think I could help out this evening, then, perhaps?"

"If you don't absolutely have to do something else this evening and night, then perhaps that could help us out here."

"When would I need to be at the place where the fashion show will be at tonight, Rorando?" asked Rolando, even as he then sank the game-winning basket to win the game 21-15 over Rorando.

"By 3, because it'll probably take a few hours to prepare you for the show."

"And how much are the designers offering for compensation to their models of their items, then, if I might ask you this?" asked Rolando, as he and Rorando began to gather up their things and drink from bottles of water in a small portable water cooler.

"If you come there as a model, soon enough before the event tonight, we will pay you the equivalent of 200 American dollars in whatever currency you prefer. If you come there as a spectator just before the event, we can give you two free tickets to use for yourself and one guest. Which would you prefer?"

Rolando thought for a bit, and then said, "I suppose I could come as a model, then. I could use some more money for potential future trips, seeing as I am a writer, Rorando. And I often travel when I can to get more information for my stories. So I can just take that money and add it to my travel fund, I suppose."

"As you wish. A few other friends of mine are looking for other potential models as well to have model for us tonight, in fact."

"Where is this fashion show?"

"It is at the headquarters of the Chrysanthemum and Rose Corporation's design studio here in SEST, Rolando."

Eventually, Rorando had to part from Rolando, and go about the business of trying to find more potential models for the upcoming fashion show that evening. Rolando watched him go for a few moments, and then set off for his own family's home elsewhere in SEST. He ultimately returned there by 1:30 in the afternoon, and then took a quick shower, before telling his parents and his siblings that he'd just been invited to model some clothing at a fashion show that evening. They soon said that he should accept the invitation, for it might be a good experience for him to write about.

"Are you sure, everyone?"

"Yes, we are, Rolando," said his father Morgan.

"We'd love to hear about the other people who'd most likely be there as well," added the fifteen-year-old Thomas, his nearer younger brother.

"And what the place looked like, while you were there," said his thirteen-year-old sister Astrid.

"Among other things we'd like to hear about, I'm quite sure," said the ten-year-old Bruce.

"Such as if there are pretty things and girls there, too," said the roughly seven-year-old Celeste, who now was Rolando's youngest sibling, whether or not she always would be.

"You are interested in girls, aren't you, Rolando?" asked his mother Emily, the former Emily Brykel.

"Yes, of course I am. But I'm not telling you just who I may be interested in at the moment, Mother. I hope you understand, with all due respect. I have to be able to have my own secrets from time to time, right?"

"Of course you do. But I was just curious who you might be interested in now. You see, you haven't gone out on a date before, as far as any of us yet know, in your life."

"True, but if I told you all who I was interested in now, Thomas and Astrid, for instance, may then want to try to find out all they could about them. And I really don't want that to happen, unless it absolutely has to, for various reasons I'd prefer not to disclose at this time. If at all, I think."

"But we just want to make sure that nobody's trying to take advantage of you, whenever we can, Rolando," said Astrid. "You have a good heart, and we don't want to see it broken needlessly."

"Astrid, answer me this question, then. How can one make a stained glass window, for instance, without something being broken?"

"They can't, if memory serves?" asked Astrid.

"Correct, something always has to be broken, for someone to be able to make such a window. Also, the best literary characters often have bad times that may stain their lives, so to speak, as well. They are not perfect, and make mistakes. Just as we humans also frequently do, for that matter, Astrid."

"What are you trying to say, Rolando?" asked Bruce, while then holding a computer disk drive in his hands at the present time.

"If I don't risk getting my heart broken, how will I likely ever know how true love is supposed to operate, Bruce? How do you know when a disk drive is working properly or not, for instance?"

"When it makes certain sounds, or does certain things, of course. Supposing it's then connected as needed and as appropriate to the computer it needs to be connected to well enough, Rolando."

"Okay, but how do you know what is supposed to happen with said disk drive, for instance, then?"

"I read a lot, and tinker a lot, too, and see what happens, often," answered Bruce.

"True love, I feel, is much, if not entirely, the same way. Now I don't just want to play around with girls' hearts. But I do want to find true love eventually. I mean, someone does have to carry on our family name, if at all possible, you know. I don't know yet if one of us boys ever will. But I still really do want to have kids someday, if I can. I have at least one girl in mind as a potential future girlfriend and wife. But I don't yet know just how she, or they, feel about me well enough, I think. And while that's still the case, I'd really prefer that you all let me have my space about such things, at least for a while, anyway."

"Fine, Rolando, we'll give you your space. At least regarding this sort of thing, for a little while, at least," said Morgan. "But we'll all still want to know at least a bit more about things of this nature later, in sufficient enough relation to you, you know."

"Fair enough, Father. I suppose, though, that if I'm going to model this evening, we'll have to cut this particular discussion short. At least for now, anyway."

"Agreed, Rolando." said Emily, who had now been married to Morgan for nearly 22 years. Emily was now a stay-at-home mother to five children. While her husband now worked mostly as a book editor, but also as a part-time film producer, for his employer, based currently out of Tokyo.

Not much later, then, he went to his room to grab a few things from it. It wasn't too much later before he ultimately left his room again, with a few things in a backpack situated properly on his back as needed.

He soon arrived there, with little or no trouble as well, after using a bicycle to get there quicker than he might have been able to get there on foot. Once he did so, he put his bicycle in a rack specifically meant for that exact purpose, locking it as needed before going into the necessary design studio.

He entered the studio's front lobby, and soon asked the then-present people where he was supposed to go in order to potentially model some clothes later at the fashion show. He was soon escorted to where several designers were chatting with other potential modeling candidates for the upcoming show. Not much later, then, he was accepted as a model for the show, much to his surprise. And not only that, he was able to spot Sylvia around it as well, and get close enough to her for them to talk to each other safely enough.

Once both Rolando and Sylvia realized this well enough, they both soon got to talking, and Sylvia said, "I didn't expect to see you here, Volois-san."

"Nor did I."

"I wonder if we're being set up here."

"By who?"

"Unknown. But something really strange seems to be going on here and now, or will soon be going on here. And I can't quite put my finger on it. Or at least right now, I can't, anyway. Please be just as careful as you can possibly be tonight, just in case something unexpected might actually happen tonight, somehow. I don't care what it might be. But please be just as careful as you can tonight, if at all possible, Volois-san. And please also tell nobody you know of this particular feeling of mine here and now, as well, if you can possibly avoid it at all."

"As you wish, Wakefield-san."

Eventually, both of them had to periodically try on several items apiece. This continued almost until the scheduled starting time for the upcoming fashion show. And they were both generally quite unable to converse with each other while they were still trying any number of various items on, if they were even able to at all.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of Japan, two young people were preparing themselves for a rare night out. They were very busy people, for Keitaro Urashima was a college sophomore and Shinobu, his wife of just over two months, was a high school senior, and both ran things at a place called the Hinata Apartments. Keitaro was the landlord at the Hinata Apartments, and one of the two co-managers there, while Shinobu was the other co-manager and the chief cook there. They were just finishing up their preparations, with Shinobu putting some earrings on and Keitaro straightening his tie and checking his hair.

They soon met with each other's approval sufficiently well, and then Keitaro asked, "Do you think the others can keep Kaolla occupied well enough tonight, somehow?"

"Well, if I remember correctly, they were planning to accompany her to a symposium or something on mechanical engineering or something, sweetheart. Even though that's really not something most of them might actually be all that interested in. If any of the rest of them might be, anyway, I think."

"Well, if they'll all go out, then perhaps this place won't get damaged at all tonight, at least, by one of her robots, Blueberry."

"Yes, we can always hope."

"You did make up some supper for everyone else, right?" Shinobu was the chief cook and a co-manager of the Hinata Apartments.

"Yes, Keitaro. I even made enough for everyone to have at least seconds, if not thirds or fourths, if they wished," said Shinobu to her husband, the landlord of the Hinata Apartments.

"Good. That should help a great deal in terms of Kaolla, at least. She's almost fully-grown, if not entirely so. But she still gets rather freaky at times, you know, though."

"Yes, she's still at least a bit like she was when you joined us here about five years ago. But, fortunately, we've not had to deal with any major repairs here very often since you and I got engaged on your nineteenth birthday earlier this year, at least. Or at least not for the most part, that is."

"But Naru and Motoko didn't take the news of our engagement well then, Shinobu."

"Not at first, I admit. But I soon set them and everyone else who was then here straight about what I would and would not tolerate from them in the future, in sufficient enough relation to you. Remember?"

Keitaro nodded, before walking over to her from his side of the room, giving her a very brief, yet very pleasant, kiss, and receiving one back from her in turn. "I certainly do. Now I don't find myself getting socked or otherwise hit by a few of them. Or getting scammed by others, anymore, for sure."

Shinobu briefly glanced at a nearby clock, and soon saw it was now quickly approaching 4:15 pm. "We should probably hurry up, Keitaro, if we want to be at the train station in time for the 4:45 to Tokyo!"

They jumped onto Keitaro's motorcycle and headed to the station, where they managed to jump onto the train before it left the platform.

Once in Tokyo, they then began to walk towards Tokyo's SEST neighborhood where a fashion show was due to start. They had great seats not too far from the stages and runways, right next to Motoki Furuhata, Reika Nishimura, and any number of other people they'd eventually come to know at least a bit better in the future. After getting themselves a program mentioning the various designers and several things that were planned for the show, they then quietly waited patiently for the show to start, as some light classical music began to play.

At 6:30 pm local time, then, Jadeite, in the guise of Genichi Kurkawa, came onto the main stage, and welcomed everyone to the fashion show. The first model came out wearing a casual pink sweatshirt, print skirt, and open-toed sandals. As for Sylvia, she often found herself in outfits consisting of various blouses and skirts, with assorted footwear choices, while Rolando often found himself in colorful and unusually patterned attire. Many of the outfits modeled at the show were rather fun-looking, and many had unusual patterns, but they were generally well-received.

* * *

All of a sudden, just before the final round of modeling was due to start, the lights in the design studio went out. Unbeknownst to all present, this had been planned in advance by an agent of the Negaverse. Specifically, by Jadeite himself.

The audience soon heard, "Stay where you are, please, and remain calm. We have just had a temporary electrical malfunction, and we will turn on the lights here again as soon as we can identify and rectify said malfunction." Jadeite said those words here, hoping that others would listen to him enough to remain in the studio so that he and his minions could then perhaps drain everyone's energy as part of their current plan.

Shinobu said, "Keitaro, I don't like this. I think something's up. His voice sounds scary, for some reason I can't quite explain, and I don't know why."

Suddenly, she and Keitaro felt their wrists being grabbed unexpectedly and tied to the armrests of their respective seats by unknown hands or appendages. "Let go, whoever you are," said Keitaro, once he realized something wasn't quite as it should be.

"Not before you give us your energy for the use of the Negaverse, humans. Queen Beryl has need of it to awaken our great leader Queen Metallia," said a still-unseen monster. Sounds of struggle soon reached their ears, as well, from other nearby areas of the design studio they were both then in.

Two minutes later, the lights came back on. Shinobu and Keitaro saw several people and two animals fighting numerous human-sized slugs. They struggled against their current bonds in their seats, but could not move. Those two animals were a peacock and a hedgehog, and they both were attempting to avoid being hit by gas clouds of some sort and/or being grabbed by those slugs, while a young man in some kind of fighting outfit was also battling them. As were several others, including two or more of the models who were trying to help spectators get out of the fight's immediate area without getting captured, hurt, or killed themselves.

Shinobu suddenly saw Sylvia then attempting to free her, and Rolando trying to do the same thing here for Keitaro, even as a slug then approached all four of them. She soon spoke up, and said, somewhat loudly, "Watch out! There's a monster behind you, girl!"

Sylvia immediately turned and grabbed some nearby forks and knives on the floor in front of Shinobu's feet, and threw them at the monster in question. Those things almost immediately hit the monster's eyes, and several other places on their body, including their moderately large batwing-like ears. While the monster was trying to recover from the sudden attack of Sylvia's on themselves, Sylvia grabbed up a nearby tray of some sort, and began fiercely beating them over the head with it, even while also kicking them and dodging various appendages that the monster then had.

Rolando fended off a second monster by fighting fiercely as well, in the hopes that he'd somehow be able to incapacitate any monster or monsters that were then threatening any or all of them. While he didn't use trays or anything, he still did use his fists and feet, at least, against the monsters then seeking to either drain the energy from him and/or those sufficiently around him at the present time.

Various other spectators and other models soon took down at least some of the now-present monsters here. But most of the monsters now present had found themselves quickly battling against Earth Knight, Wanderer, and Seeker. Most especially, they did so right after they'd all revealed their presences.

The slugs, which were called Eramcelers, soon saw at least forty of their number either incapacitated or killed, by the time that Sylvia and Rolando were finally able to somehow free both Shinobu and Keitaro. Once Shinobu and Keitaro were free, Shinobu said, "Thank you, Miss."

"Call me Sylvia. My friend here is Rolando. We may meet each other again later, I somehow strongly suspect."

"Then you two can call us Shinobu and Keitaro," Keitaro said, while indicating who was who here.

"Get out of here now, if you can, then, you two. We'll cover you as best as we can. Head for the nearest available exit, while we do so, as best as we can," said Rolando. Those things said, then, Sylvia and Rolando escorted Shinobu and Keitaro to that exit, while also watching out for any more potential threats from any still-present Eramcelers.

Shinobu and Keitaro made it to the necessary exit, and fled the scene. They came to a little pastry shop, and went inside.

"I wonder how long it will be before they're able to resume the fashion show tonight, Shinobu."

"I don't think they will, Keitaro, due to the presence of the monsters there."

"I also wonder if Motoko would have been able to take any of them down with her attacks."

"Not sure, but I hope everyone who was there will be okay. Unless they're the monsters, of course, or those who sent them," said Shinobu, as she and Keitaro were then escorted to a table elsewhere.

"Earth Knight and his animal allies seemed to be able to fight them somewhat well, somehow, though, didn't they, Shinobu?"

"They were having some trouble, last I saw, before we were finally able to get out of the area well enough, Keitaro."

Shinobu took a sip of some oolong tea, then a bite of a cream-filled long john pastry, before continuing, "I am glad you are with me, just the same, though, Keitaro, as always."

"We have been together for over a year or so, you know. I will always be with you whenever I can be, Shinobu. You know that." Keitaro took a bite from a piece of cherry pie, then a sip of some orange juice.

"Yes, but …?"

"Yes, but nothing, Shinobu. You are my wife. I am your husband. Me being with you now is part of the territory of being married, through good times and bad times. Of course, I could have just as easily been with one of the other girls, you know. But I chose you, and I will always choose you over them, if and whenever necessary and appropriate now. For I love you, and that will never change now."

"Why did you choose me, when the others were most likely much better-looking, then, Keitaro?" asked Shinobu, as she took another bite of her current long john pastry.

"Because of your personality, and the fact that you were always there for me when you could be. Even after they got after me many times without just cause. Among other things that helped me choose who I wanted to marry someday in my own life, if I could. For those reasons, and perhaps for any number of others, whether possibly known or unknown, I therefore chose you as my lifemate for at least as long as we both shall live, if not even longer than that. For instance, you never deliberately tried to hurt me, as far as I can recall. That most definitely really made major points in your direct favor with me too. I love you, and you are the one I've quite often dreamed of ever since we were both still quite young and sitting together in that sandbox, Shinobu."

"But they are much better-looking, or have been, in the past, than I most likely have ever been or may now be." Shinobu took another sip of her tea here.

"So what if they have, if they indeed have, been better-looking, at least on the outside, Shinobu? Looks will and do fade in time. But true beauty is within, not on the outside. Oh, sure, someone may look really good on the outside. But what really matters and what should be considered more by people looking for true love is what's on the inside of a person, in terms of personality, et cetera. You can dress up a pig, for instance, in a fine formal gown, perhaps. Yet a pig is still a pig, just the same."

"Which means?" asked Shinobu, as Keitaro took another bite of his pie.

"How someone is on the inside will show through, in time. No matter what they look like, or what they wear, Shinobu. Whether they're kind or mean, grateful or jealous, et cetera."

"And how do you see me?"

"You are a priceless possession to me, Shinobu, worth more to me than any possible artifact I might ever find. Even if I were to find, say, Noah's Ark, you would still be worth more to me than that."

"Some of my classmates think I should have waited to get married, though, Keitaro."

"Well, you and I decided to marry young. And what business is it of theirs, anyway, to tell you who you should love or not love, et cetera?"

"But we married before I'll get out of high school. That's not normally done for most people, is it?"

"Not unless, of course, there is at least one child on the way for them, if not more than one."

"True, Keitaro. But you do have to admit that it's not often done here, you know."

"Well, sometimes things happen, Shinobu. People often fall in love for life at young ages. And such was the case for us. So who's to say that we weren't wrong to marry while you still are in high school?"

"It's not normally done, that's what, I believe."

"Is fighting monsters often normally done, either?"

"No, of course not, unless it's in the movies or television shows, I think."

"But yet, we saw others fighting them, did we not? And Motoko has fought against various hostile creatures before, too. If what we've heard of her before is true enough, Shinobu, it seems to me."

"Yes, but …?"

"No buts about it, or heads or hindquarters or whatnot, Shinobu. We saw rampaging monsters where we were not even half an hour ago or so."

"I hope everyone's all right, there, of course, who needs to be."

"So do I, Shinobu. So do I."

Just then, a peacock and a hedgehog quite unexpectedly entered the pastry shop along with Earth Knight, and Earth Knight soon asked, "Is there anyone named Shinobu or Keitaro present here, with the last name of Urashima? Your mutual presences are now hereby requested back at the Chrysanthemum and Rose Corporation's design studio. The trouble that occurred there rather unexpectedly has now been dealt with sufficiently well, and it's now quite safe to return there. There won't be any more problems tonight there."

Keitaro and Shinobu briefly looked at each other, then at Earth Knight and his two animal companions, before briefly whispering to each other here. They soon decided Keitaro should answer for them both here, after which Keitaro soon said, "We are Keitaro and Shinobu Urashima, and we would like to know who your two companions are here, if we may, before we go with you."

"The peacock is Wanderer, and the hedgehog is Seeker. They saw your names on a list of reservations for the fashion show during the battle now ended, and thought you might want to see the rest of the show, if at all possible."

"Are you sure it's completely safe now, sir?" asked Shinobu, as she soon found herself and Keitaro both then gathering up all of their own respective things again.

"As sure as I am Earth Knight, AKA Tuxedo Mask, it is, Mr. and Mrs. Urashima," answered Earth Knight, in very short order.

"Then can you please tell us if Sylvia and Rolando are all right?" asked Keitaro.

"I don't know who they are, but I still do remember seeing two persons actually trying to free you two, when you two were still bound to your seats earlier."

"They were Sylvia and Rolando, Earth Knight," said Shinobu.

Wanderer soon conversed secretly with Earth Knight, and then Earth Knight said, "They're both safe, it seems. And they're both hoping you both will actually return for the rest of the show, as well. But they still will fully understand if you two don't."

A rather brief conversation between Shinobu and Keitaro later, then, both Keitaro and Shinobu decided to accompany Earth Knight back to the necessary nearby design studio in SEST here. "By the way, just who sent the monsters in question, if you can tell us, Earth Knight?" asked Shinobu, in very short order.

"Seems that someone by the actual name of Jadeite did, and he seems to be from something called a Negaverse, whatever that might be. Unfortunately, I really don't think that Japan has seen the very last of him, just yet, Urashima-tachi."

* * *

Shinobu and Keitaro soon were both back in their respective seats, and then watching the rest of the temporarily-interrupted fashion show. The rest of it went without further unplanned incidents of any kind, especially after Earth Knight and his two animal companions stood guard over it. Finally, everyone, except for Earth Knight, his animal companions, and just one other person, had left the design studio behind for the rest of the night.

But Earth Knight and his two animal companions ultimately only left after a certain middle-aged woman first came out of a dressing room and briefly conversed with Earth Knight while handing him a sheet of paper with certain things mentioned on them, and an address listed at the bottom of one side for that sheet of paper. The things listed on both sides of the paper were for a list of supplies that would be needed for the building at the aforementioned address in the near future. Also on the paper, on the side with the aforementioned address on it, there were instructions for Earth Knight to appear sometime later in his civilian state of being at a certain library somewhere in Tokyo.

The woman, who looked as if she was only in her thirties, at most, soon returned to her dressing room, not to be seen again by him for at least the rest of the current night. After which, he immediately left the design studio behind with his two animal companions.

As soon as it was then safe enough to do so, Earth Knight powered down, in a deserted alley near his apartment, and became just Darien Shields again. Seeker and Wanderer quickly re-assumed their earlier disguises as a watch and a belt with a buckle, respectively, and Darien wore them all the way home.

Once they were all behind sufficiently-secured windows and doors, Seeker and Wanderer took on their normal appearances again, of course. Wanderer said, "So the Negaverse has sent out its first General, it seems, now. A General by the name of Jadeite, at that."

"What do you know of this Jadeite, you two?" asked Darien.

"Not much, but from what I gathered, just the same, at tonight's fight, I think he could be a serious threat to us and those with us, and to our world," answered Seeker.

"Same here. Although I seem to remember somehow that there seemed to be at least four or five Negaverse Generals around long ago, for some reason, come to think of it, if not more," said Wanderer.

The three of them conversed for a while longer with each other before Wanderer and Seeker finished telling Darien all that they could both currently recall about Jadeite, the Negaverse, and the yet-unidentified woman that Darien had met earlier at the design studio while still in his guise as Earth Knight/Tuxedo Mask, in fact. It wasn't much more, at the present time, unfortunately, for reasons yet to be learned. But it still was at least enough to make Darien start to wonder if he and others would be able to defeat anyone who sought to take over Earth, somehow, in any case. And just how they might be able to do just that, once and for all, if at all possible.

After he went to bed, sometime later, he suddenly began to experience dreams of a somewhat fog-shrouded young woman who he couldn't currently somehow recognize, and who he may have never knowingly met before, either in his dreams or in actual physical reality. After he then began doing so, he didn't sleep very well for the rest of his currently-planned sleeping period in his bed, in truth, instead often beginning to toss and turn somewhat in his bed, and even under his covers.

End of Chapter Two

* * *

Well, that concludes this chapter of the story, and now that Jadeite has made his first known appearance in the story, it now remains to be seen how much of a threat he and his monsters will be in it. Also, we now have a few more characters in the story to speak of, among them Sylvia and Rolando, to name just a few. What part will that unidentified woman have in this story? Will she be a known friend, a known foe, or a known neutral, in time? You'll all just have to read on to find out, folks. Please consider reading on, and preparing to find out all about _A Mysterious Message_ that Darien may eventually hear or somehow otherwise receive, whether or not he's in his Earth Knight state of being or not, people.

And how often may we ultimately see Shinobu and Keitaro in this story as well? Only time will tell, of course, when and where possible and appropriate enough. Until later, then, I wish you all well, and hope you all ultimately do continue reading this story here as best as you can, and as often as you can, for sure. TUS out.


	3. A Mysterious Meeting

In the last chapter, we saw Darien and a number of others involved in an unexpected fight during a fashion show at a certain design studio in SEST, which ended with Earth Knight and them victorious against any number of Eramcelers that were trying to wreak great havoc during it. And we met a few of them, as well, some of which will be key to certain later events in this story, as situations permit them to be in it.

We met Shinobu and Keitaro, and we will see a good deal of them in this particular story, but they will not be part of Earth Knight's team of fighters, or at least not for quite some time, if at all. In the cases of Sylvia and Rolando, however, that may not remain the case, ultimately, for reasons yet to be revealed in this story.

There will be others brought into the story in this chapter, to at least help the story along. Just how important they will ultimately be in this story is yet to be determined, but I will say this, at least. Besides Hitomi who you will learn at least a little more about, there will be at least one future member of Darien's fighting team who will be present during the events of this chapter, if not more than one, for sure. Just how many there will be, you'll just have to continue reading to find out, of course.

There will not be another fight in this chapter, or at least there'll not be one until the very end of it, though, for Darien and his animal allies. Instead, this chapter will mainly be used to continue building the foundation of this story, so that the rest of it hopefully flows much better and more believably as it is still in the process of being told, folks.

With no further ado, then, the story shall recommence very shortly, once I add some blurbs about each one of the new characters that will make their first real appearances in this chapter of the story, that is, just so you know, everyone. Hopefully, they'll help you all to keep things straighter in this story, of course, after you read them here.

* * *

Hitomi Wakahisa - novelist/fashion designer, 45 years old, lavender-colored hair, blue eyes, usually wears simple yet elegant clothes in lighter colors, and is still very attractive for her age, married to her husband Kenshin for many years, and they have several children not yet seen in this story, one of a few co-owners of the Chrysanthemum and Rose Corporation, has had a fairly good-sized number of her novels published to date in various literary genres, often quite kind and often quite gentle-minded when circumstances still allow her to be, very determined, potentially dangerous foe to those who would intend harm to her or to those close to her or to their belongings or other property, not one to unavoidably be provoked by anyone normally, normally peaceful when she and those around her are left sufficiently alone by others who may not like them, is one who typically uses swords and projectiles in battle whenever she unfortunately has to fight against those who seek to do harm to her or those around her. (02/20/1945)

* * *

Klavan Metharom - high school student, 14 years old, straight brown hair cut short, brown eyes, usually dresses very modestly in long-sleeved shirts and long trousers or jeans, perhaps, enjoys listening to classical music, and is studying to become an architect, likes bowling and fantasy novels and radios and architecture, and is a decent writer, more details to be revealed later. (06/18/1976)

* * *

Terna Frinussi - high school student, 16 years old, straight midnight blue hair often worn in short ponytail, blue eyes, likes to wear old-fashioned clothing, gentle, is a trivia buff, wants to be a programmer, interests include computers, reading, mysteries, and teddy bears, decent flower arranger, and picky eater, more details to be revealed later. (04/10/1974)

* * *

Pita Ortius - College student, 18-19 years old, mostly dark green mid-thigh-length hair with some unexpectedly natural black and maroon streaks in it usually worn in a bun and interlocking rings or in braids around her head, magenta eyes, often dresses conservatively and professionally, good saxophone player, excellent student, interests include tomes of obscure knowledge, card games, tea sets, and saxophones, more details to be revealed later. (09/11/1971)

* * *

Amy Anderson - high school student, 14 years old, somewhat dark blue roughly chin-length hair, blue eyes, often dresses modestly and conservatively in blouses and skirts or in long dresses that fall at least to her knees, if not to her ankles, in terms of their usual hem lengths, most often in various shades of blue or other similar colors, occasionally wears glasses, bookworm, excellent swimmer, excellent student, parents divorced semi-contentiously, rarely sees her parents, especially her artist/musician father, and her mother is a pediatrician who is often quite busy with her medical work, so she is not particularly close to either parent at this time in her life, quite shy, spends quite a lot of time alone in her life, whenever not at school or otherwise in public with anyone else in her life, attends cram school outside of her regular school's hours, very intelligent, but a real loner quite often, more details to be revealed later. (09/10/1976)

* * *

Ami Mizuno - high school student, 14 years old, considerably dark blue roughly chin-length hair, blue eyes, often dresses modestly and conservatively in blouses and skirts or in long dresses that fall at least to her knees, if not to her ankles, in terms of their usual hem lengths, most often in various shades of blue or other similar colors, often wears glasses, bookworm, excellent swimmer, excellent student, parents divorced semi-reluctantly, rarely sees her parents, especially her photographer/journalist father, and her mother is a general practitioner who is often quite busy with her medical work, so she is not particularly close to either parent at this time in her life, quite shy, spends a lot of time alone in her life, whenever not at school or otherwise in public with anyone else in her life, attends cram school outside of her regular school's hours, very intelligent, but a real loner quite often, more details to be revealed later. (09/10/1976)

* * *

There will be at least some, if not several, differences from the known canon versions in terms of certain important character details related to the last two characters listed above, but hopefully you still will all give me a little freedom to explore where I can take those two characters, at least, in this story and its potentially-related series of stories here. For we don't know as much about them in those canons as we do about certain other characters, because of the simple fact that the various canons for _Sailor Moon_ don't typically focus on them in most episodes or musicals, people, for various reasons. I have some plans to feature at least one, if not both, of them as somewhat significant enough characters later on, but for now, at least, they both will simply help to move certain things along, until enough other people are in this story as well as needed.

This particular chapter will not have a fight, or at least not have one for most of it, between Darien and any number of alien monsters, but it should still be a good chapter that helps to build the foundation for certain later events in this story and/or series of stories quite well, just the same, I hope. While at least three of them will be quite important in their own rights, later, they're not yet ready to fight or play major enough parts in this story, if they ultimately will in it. You will have to wait and see just who those people are, as you continue to read this story here, then. But I promise you that at least three of them besides Hitomi will do so, in any case, if I'm somehow actually able to write up to those times in this story, Lord willing, folks.

Now without further ado, I hereby give you the next chapter of this story, folks. I hope you all like how it turns out here, of course. TUS out.

* * *

_A Mysterious Meeting_

* * *

A day or so later, Darien, in his civilian state, went to a certain public library in Azabu Juuban to meet with a still-unidentified woman there. He didn't know yet what to expect, but he did hope to learn more about what was going on now in Tokyo, at least. If not also anywhere else as well, when he did so.

Where he lived wasn't too far away from that library, so he walked there. He arrived there about 45 minutes before his scheduled time to meet with that woman, at about 5:15 pm on September 10, 1990. When he did, he soon came to the front desk, and asked the young woman now there, in Japanese, "I am Darien Shields, and I am here to meet with Hitomi Wakahisa, Miss. Do you perhaps know where she is?"

Pita, a young woman wearing black with dark green braided hair, thought for a moment, before quietly answering, "No, unfortunately, I don't right now. But if I remember correctly, she told me that she was expecting to see you later, after getting here herself a bit ago. She didn't say just where she'd be in this library, though, if memory serves."

"Okay, do you mind if I look for her, then?"

"Go right ahead, Mr. Shields. Maybe someone else here might have seen her go elsewhere in the library, I think." She started to turn towards another person near the front desk, but suddenly paused, and remembered something that might be important. When she did, she then briefly stuck one hand in a pocket of her black skirt, and withdrew a medium-sized twice-folded slip of paper from it. She briefly glanced at it, and then handed it to him, saying, in a very quiet voice, in English, unlike his and her earlier words in Japanese, "Here is a piece of paper that will hopefully help you find her in time, before your meeting. Read the clue or clues provided, then act accordingly on them, as best as you can, then. Enjoy your stay at the library, then, I hope. Perhaps we'll meet again, once you have to leave this library later tonight. But for now, I must help others here, of course."

In English, and in a very quiet voice, he then said, "Thank you. I look forward to it, then, if we are able to meet again later tonight, for sure."

Then he just as quietly left the front desk before soon opening that paper, to read, in small, but still well-readable cursive letters, in English, "Warrior of Earth, your journey is now beginning. You must now find a Thai-language copy of _The Lord of the Rings_, and give it to a young man with a black and orange jacket bearing a logo featuring flaming bowling balls and bowling pins on it. He will then point you to the next clue or clues you will need to have to find me here in this library this evening."

He soon went to the fantasy novels section, and soon found several copies of that novel in several languages. It took a little while for him to actually find the Thai-language version of it. But he eventually did, with at least some help from a multiple-language version of the introduction to that novel. That done, he soon went in search of the person matching the description given on the Pita-given paper.

It took him several minutes, and he had to go to the library's fourth floor, but he still found them. When he did, they were reading a book about architecture as they sat at a table. A table that was neatly covered with notes and sketches on a piece of paper there bearing that person's name, even while they were also listening to a tape of a collection of classical music from Rossini and others with his headphones. The person's name was Klavan Metharom. And he had short brown hair and brown eyes, when Darien finally came up to him.

Klavan, a young man of 14 or so years old, soon noticed Darien's presence, and stopped the tape he was then listening to, before taking off his headphones. Then he noticed the Thai-language copy of _The Lord of the Rings_, and almost immediately after doing so, quickly motioned Darien to sit down across from him. They both studied each other briefly, once they'd introduced themselves to each other, before Klavan reached into a nearby backpack, and removed a three-ring semi-loose-leaf notepad from it. With that done, Klavan laid the notepad on top of his sketches, before briefly looking through it and finding a certain page in it. He studied that page for a few seconds, then detached it from the notepad, very carefully, so that it wouldn't be needlessly damaged, and showed it to Darien, out of the sight of anyone else now in the room with them. Finally, he asked Darien, first in Thai, then in Japanese, once he realized that Darien didn't know much, if any, Thai at all in his life, while detaching another blank page from the notepad and handing it to him, "Would you draw me a brief sketch of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart just as best as you possibly can, Shields-san, please?"

"Why, if I may ask?" asked Darien, in Japanese.

"One of my contacts told me that you have an interest in classical music. And one of your favorite composers is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, it seems, from what they told me about you earlier. You don't have to make it a well-detailed sketch, of course. But perhaps you can still draw his face, at least, reasonably well," said Klavan, also in Japanese.

"I'm not very good at drawing, Metharom-san."

"Just try. Who knows, you might just surprise yourself, at least a little?"

So Darien took a pen out of his pocket, and began sketching a younger version of Mozart while he was still a teenager. It wasn't a really good sketch of the teenage Mozart, by the time he finished it. But it was still done with enough quality to cause Klavan to smile at him, after he'd handed it to Klavan.

"You pass. That being said, it seems I must now hand you a chess piece, and another slip of paper, to lead you to the next person or persons you'll need to find the person who told me about you." Klavan reached into his backpack again, and withdrew a knight cut from a sapphire set on top of a red cedar base, before also handing him a slip of paper showing certain chess-related questions on it. Klavan said, "These questions are for your next encounter here in this library. Your next contact will be wearing clip-on chess-themed earrings, and they'll be made from blue sapphires. So be watchful of that as you look for her. She'll also have a swimming cap on her head now as well, and it'll be mostly white with fish in various colors and styles on it. She'll give you your next clue or clues after you meet her, once you pass a short test related to classical cars, and beat her in a quick chess game. We will meet again later, I'm sure. Good luck against her, sir."

"Understood, I'll leave you to your sketches and studies, then, Metharom-san."

"Thank you, Shields-san." Then Darien soon left Klavan behind, and went in search of the next person he'd have to find, as 5:35 approached. He found that person at about 5:40, as she was in the part of the library that had books related to various fields of medicine. Fields like cardiology, for instance, at that.

When he found her, he soon briefly cleared his throat to get her attention, and she turned to him, soon saying, "I take it you are Darien Shields," in English.

"I am, ma'am," he said, also in English, which both soon chose to continue to speak in as long as they'd be with each other in the library.

"Good, I was expecting to meet you, after I was asked to be here tonight. Even though I did have other plans, seeing as today is my birthday, actually. I am Amy Anderson, and I take it you have questions for me, both on paper and not." She briefly ran one hand through her short blue hair, in order to brush a bit of it out of her blue eyes.

"I do. I was given a piece of paper and a chess knight, before I went looking for you minutes ago," he said, as she led him to a nearby table with several things on it. Including a normal chessboard made with crystal and wood squares and some sort of metal frame or border around the chessboard, and 31 out of 32 chess pieces already on the board. There was an empty square where one of the black knights would normally be when a game might start. But all the other necessary squares were now filled on the board as needed.

"Okay, may I please have the knight, then, that you were given? Black needs to have another knight here available, of course, before the game we play can actually start." She motioned him to a seat across from her as she said these things here. He took it, while also handing her the knight.

She moved a few of her papers aside for a few moments, and soon received the paper he now had for her here. That done, she quickly examined it, and answered those questions as needed as best as she could, getting them all right. For she was quite good at chess-related things in her life, but not yet the greatest chess player in her usual competition circles, or her usual social circles, at least.

After finishing her test, she handed him another sheet of paper with a number of classic cars-related questions. He soon passed the test satisfactorily enough. Even though he missed a few questions on it, he still passed it. After she checked his answers, and told him he'd passed that test, she asked him, "Would you like to play white or black in our game here?"

"Black, if you don't mind?"

"Ah, being a bit mysterious here, are we? No matter, you will open yourself up soon enough to others, I am quite sure, given the right stimuli, later on in your life. Very well, you can play black, then, at least for this game. Show me just how good a player you are, then, Mr. Shields."

They soon began playing, and they opened their game with a French Defense opening, which was a bit of a surprise for Amy, but she hid her surprise well, just the same. After his second move of d7-d5, to threaten her King pawn, she then chose to go N-c3, to protect it. Which then led him to invoke the Winawer Variation, by moving his black-square Bishop to b4, to threaten her knight.

About thirty moves later, then, after several exchanges of pieces and pawns, and an average time of about five to ten seconds, more or less, per move from either of them during the game, at least early on, White was left with a Queen, a Rook, and a pawn to go with its King against one of Black's Knights, its white-square Bishop, two pawns, and its King. The game continued for a few more minutes and about twenty or so more moves, before Darien ultimately managed to somehow trap Amy's King in one corner of the board,while also not allowing her last Pawn, which was her Queen's Rook pawn on a7 to get promoted, by trapping it on the appropriate promotion square, even. Especially seeing as both her remaining non-King pieces had each just been taken within the last five moves of the game to that point in time for their game. Once Amy realized she couldn't possibly win the game now, she then immediately resigned, once it was her turn again, for he'd have checkmated her in just a few more moves, at most.

Then she soon said, "Well-played, Mr. Shields. You seem to know your way around a chessboard fairly well. I look forward to perhaps playing chess again with you in the future, then."

She then checked a nearby clock on the wall, and saw that it was getting fairly close to 6 o'clock, but that he still had at least a few minutes of leeway time left before he'd have to be with Hitomi later for their planned meeting. With that done, she quickly took something of decent enough size out of one of the science-related textbooks now resting on the table in front of her near the chessboard, and handed it to him. It was yet another sheet of paper, this time being a paper with a set of biochemistry formulas and other biochemistry-related things on it. "Please take this to a girl on the second floor wearing glasses, a swimming cap exactly like mine, but with her last name of Mizuno on it instead of mine, and a mostly navy blue sweater with several stylized fish on it in various colors and styles and shapes. She will then give you a book related to astronomical phenomena of various kinds, which you will need to bring to your meeting with our mutual contact, and she will escort you to where you will then need to be elsewhere in this library for your meeting. This paper belongs to the person you will need to meet next. And she accidentally dropped it while we were both at our cram school yesterday, coming out of our advanced biochemistry class at the Crystal Spheres School elsewhere in Azabu Juuban."

"All right, is there anything else I will need to know at this time, then, about either Mrs. Wakahisa or Miss Mizuno, Miss Anderson?"

"Her name is Ami, similar to my name, but instead of the A in her name being a long A, as the A in my name is, it is pronounced like Ah-me, not like the sound of a in the word wait, for example. She looks a lot like me too, but has darker hair, and typically wears her glasses more than I typically wear mine, as well. When she wears earrings, she usually prefers round stud-type earrings, it seems to me, if I'm not too mistaken here, either, come to think of it."

"Okay, got all that, I think."

"Then I will see you later, perhaps, Mr. Shields. Now go, before you're ultimately late with your expected meeting with Mrs. Wakahisa."

"One last question, how do several of you already know Mrs. Wakahisa, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I do not mind, but I still cannot say, at least not yet, anyway. Maybe some other time, I can. But not yet, if ever, unfortunately. Goodbye." She then gathered up her things, after also glancing at a watch then on her left wrist, and quickly left. "Sorry to cut you off so short, Mr. Shields, but I have to go, for I just remembered I have another matter I must attend to now, and I don't want to be late. Also, you may call me Amy whenever possible in the future, supposing it's appropriate enough for you to do so at such times," she added, just before she left. To which, Darien quickly said that she could periodically call him Darien at times, if and whenever possible and appropriate enough as well. With those things said and done for them both, Amy then left, in very short order.

After she left, he then quickly went down to the library's second floor and soon saw Ami just where Amy had told him she'd be. A few very brief words later, in Japanese from both of them, soon elicited a quick nod from Ami towards him here. She then gently took him by the arm, and pulled him into a less-illuminated nearby area on the second floor for a few brief moments, so that others wouldn't be so likely to see her hand him the astronomy-related book that Amy had earlier mentioned to him before she left the library minutes before, for reasons yet to be learned by Darien in his life. She quietly whispered to him, in Latin, or in a tongue that seemed much like Latin to him, at least, "Luna's Princess is closer than you may think, even in the shadows shrouding the ancient crystal thrones in the gardens of the silver Moon. And her Queen is yet-unrevealed as well, but will be known, when the Dark Realm awakens sufficiently, after the Seven Shards rejoin to form the Moonsphere."

"What are you talking about, Mizuno-san?" he soon asked, just as quietly, in Japanese, and she soon answered back, also in Japanese, quite naturally enough.

"This was the message I was told to relay to you, before I brought you to Wakahisa-san. I do not yet know what it means, if I ever will, but I was still told to relay that to you, before you meet her tonight."

"So you are just her messenger here, at least for now?"

"Yes, at least for this particular occasion, anyway, I am. Now come, for I can say no more, and delay no longer, before I bring you to her."

So Darien immediately followed her, even after she gently released his arm here. Minutes later, she brought him to a very secluded room elsewhere in the library, and briefly knocked on its door. There was almost instantly after the third knock on the door, a feminine voice from inside, which then said, in Mandarin Chinese, "Bring him in, Mizuno-san."

Ami did so, immediately, opening its door, and escorting him into the room, which still had all but two lights off in it, one light shining on the woman and one on a seat across from her on the other side of a table where the ends were not currently visible, due to the general darkness in the room at that time. Darien quietly followed Ami into the room, and she brought him to the seat opposite that of the woman already in the room waiting for them to arrive. "Sit, Shields-san," said Ami, in Japanese, "for you and she both have much to discuss now, for sure."

"Will you remain here, then, Mizuno-san, while we meet?" asked Darien.

"I cannot, unfortunately. What she and you must discuss now, I cannot hear. For it is not something that I am supposed to hear. It also does not pertain to me, nor is it my business to know of what she and you have to talk about now, for sure. Therefore, I must leave, or she will not be able to converse with you now as she needs to, most definitely, Shields-san."

"Will we meet again, then?"

"I cannot say, but there may be a possibility that we could meet again in the future, somehow. Now I must leave. Sayonara, Shields-san."

With that said, Ami immediately left Darien alone with Hitomi here. Hitomi then said, just as pleasantly as she could then do so here, in English, after seeing the book Ami had given to him, "Please do sit down, Shields-san. We most certainly do have much to discuss. Especially after another one of my various contacts here in the area arrives to at least briefly drop off some more information here that you may perhaps find useful enough in the future."

Darien soon sat down, as asked, and Hitomi put some things in front of him from a briefcase also on their table Not everything yet that he might then need to see, but still at least some of what he might need to see. For instance, she opened an album full of many different news clippings from various newspapers existing all over the world. Most, if not all, of those clippings were at least somewhat related to many rather strange events and/or beings that were quite unusual, at least, to many people anywhere in the world If not greatly related to them, somehow.

Darien soon studied many of those many clippings for himself for at least twenty minutes, while Hitomi quietly waited for him to say anything more, before ultimately asking her, in Japanese, "And what do you think that I might be able to do well enough to make it harder for them to do as you seem to think they may be doing here, if they're actually doing these kinds of things all over, then, perhaps?"

"Well, for one thing, you could certainly use a headquarters against them all," said Hitomi, also in Japanese. Just then, a nearby phone lightly beeped elsewhere in the room. Hitomi then stood up, even while also saying, "Increase lights' current illumination level ten percent per minute for the next five minutes. Thank you." The phone still continued to beep quietly several times more as she gracefully moved to one wall and as the room's available lighting gradually brightened.

Once she was where the phone was, she briefly glanced at its screen, before picking up its handset, and putting it to her right ear while also turning to watch Darien. Then she said, apparently in Welsh or Gaelic, "Wakahisa speaking, …. Yes, he's here now, … He should have a better idea of certain things related to the design studio soon once you bring us the books related to at least its finances, I think, … Very well, we'll see you here in just a few minutes more, I expect, … Wakahisa out." After the phone call, she went back to her seat at the table here. She didn't sit, however, before first moving to a little cubical fridge of some sort in the room and taking a few things out of it here.

Darien soon said, in Japanese, "Aren't people generally not supposed to eat or drink most, if not all, things at all in a typical library, Wakahisa-san?"

"Yes, that's a quite common rule, for sure, all over the world, Shields-san. But being one of the main benefactors of this particular library does allow me to have certain privileges. And this room also is one of my primary work areas whenever I'm working on one of my various literary projects of all kinds. Not only that, I currently have certain health-related needs of my very own that periodically require me to have considerable stockpiles of food, drink, and medical-related items within often-close reach of myself whenever I'm here," she said, still speaking in Japanese here. Even while carrying some tea, sandwiches, and three cups back to their table just as carefully as she then could, seeing as the room wasn't yet as bright as she wanted it to be here.

He watched her just as carefully pour herself a cup, after first shaking his head negatively when she offered him one to drink here, then said, still in Japanese, once her tea was poured into a porcelain teacup painted so as to feature the known lunar phases, "You still haven't actually provided enough information to me in order to convince me that I should help you out at least somewhat financially, I think, Wakahisa-san."

Just then, a knock on the same door that Darien had earlier been escorted through sounded. Hitomi then asked, after taking a brief sip of her honey, milk, and cinnamon-flavored tea, in English, for Darien's benefit, at least, "Is that you, Frinussi-san, and do you have the required books with you still, as well?"

"Yes, ma'am, I still do, as requested," answered a young woman from the other side of the door, just a few seconds later, at most, in the same language.

"Good. Anyone else with you now, then, by any chance, as far as you know?"

"Nobody at all, ma'am."

"Then please join us now, if you don't mind."

Without another word, then, the door opened to quickly admit a young woman of roughly 16 years of age in her life. The young woman was short and of moderate build for her size and age, being only about 5'3" and about 125 pounds, with midnight blue hair in a ponytail and light blue eyes. She was also wearing a long mostly dark green floor-length dress, along with a mostly dark blue backpack on her back at the present time.

After sufficiently securing the door, she moved to the table, and set her backpack down in front of her, once she'd sat down at it near Hitomi's right side. Then she opened her backpack, and took out two rather good-sized books that couldn't be anything else besides financial ledgers, before setting them in front of Darien here. Next, she reached again into her backpack, and from a case of some sort, she took out a notebook-sized device that now looked like a rather large calculator, but wasn't just a calculator, in truth. That device was also some sort of information-gathering and data collection-maintaining device, at least, if nothing else as well. She soon pressed a few of the buttons then apparently on that device, before bringing up a considerable amount of data on a screen that took up about half of the currently-visible area on the device's upper side. While the rest of that visible area was taken up by various buttons then presently seen on it.

Once she did just that here, she reached into her backpack yet again, and took out some sheets of loose paper, before beginning to slide them through the middle of her device's casing and pressing a few more buttons on her device. She did this for several minutes, with at least two dozen sheets of paper, before ultimately handing exactly half of the resulted printed sheets here to Darien, and exactly half to Hitomi, while saying, in Japanese, "Here are several more often not easily-gathered Negaverse-related records of confirmed and known information related to any number of the strange events and beings that you wished me and certain others to attempt discovery of, Wakahisa-san. All gathered by myself and a number of our mutual contacts since April of this year, once certain rather strange things first began happening around here in Japan and certain other nearby countries."

Hitomi soon introduced Darien to the blue-haired girl, and vice versa, in English. Darien soon learned that the blue-haired girl's name was Terna Frinussi, and that she was originally from somewhere in the British Isles nation of Wales, before she and her family had come to Japan just about two years before the present time.

After Terna learned his full name, she soon said, still in English, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Shields. You may address me as the Lady Terna of Dreamlane Manor, if you wish. Or as Lady Frinussi, if you do not, most times whenever we meet in the future, if not all such times."

"Dreamlane Manor?"

"That is where we normally reside whenever my family and I are actually back home in Wales for a long enough stretch of time in our respective lives, Mr. Shields." She said that as she set her unusual device on the table just in front of her, next to a cup that Hitomi had set down near her just a few seconds before, and picked up a peanut butter and orange marmalade sandwich from the plate of assorted sandwiches still on the table near them all here.

"Darien."

"What?"

"Darien, if you don't mind too much, please, Frinussi-san."

"Oh?"

"Many of my English-speaking associates that are fairly close to me in age typically call me Darien, Frinussi-san." He soon began to silently study her at some length, but not in an inappropriate manner at all, just before beginning to examine both the sheets she'd just given him and the financial ledgers she'd earlier brought to the table here.

She went silent for some time while she began to eat the sandwich now in her left partly-cybernetic hand, before ultimately saying, rather calmly indeed, "You somehow expect to meet me often in the future, it seems to me. For some yet-unknown reason or reasons, then."

"Yes, for some reason I can't quite explain at present, maybe, I do, ma'am."

"Very well, I will make you a deal, if that is acceptable to you enough."

"And that deal is?"

"When you and I are with each other in the future, and certain likely circumstances permit us to do so well enough, somehow, I will accede to your wishes, and call you simply Darien, and allow you to call me simply Terna. Otherwise, I will call you Mr. Shields, or Shields-san, as may be more appropriate at a particular time. And you are to call me either Lady Terna of Dreamlane Manor or Lady Frinussi. Fair enough?"

He thought for a few seconds, at least, in silence, before saying, "Fine, agreed."

"Study this provided information very closely here and commit it quite firmly to memory, just as soon as you possibly can in your life, Mr. Shields. You ultimately will need to quite often remember this information, most likely, in the future. And most especially after you finally do come to meet up with certain Generals for the Negaverse sometime later, for sure, I think," said Terna, as she still calmly continued to have her sandwich at the present time here.

"What other Generals are there besides Jadeite for the Negaverse, as far as you know?" asked Darien, as he finally took the last teacup, poured himself some tea, and took one of the still-present sandwiches. Which, in his case, was a grilled cheese sandwich.

"Besides Jadeite, rumor has it that there are at least three other Generals for the Negaverse right now, if not more. But more specific information has not yet been learned about their chain of command, or exactly who is leading the Negaverse at the present time. It does seem, however, that their main goal at the present time is either to gather large amounts of human life energy, for some yet-unknown reason or reasons, or to wreak just as much havoc as they possibly can, also for some yet-unknown reason or reasons. Several of us who work periodically for Wakahisa-san in various ways, including certain people you may perhaps eventually meet later, have now begun trying to find out accurate enough information about how they make their various monsters in the Negaverse, if they do, or how they breed them, or whatnot. As for me, I currently am somewhat more interested in their potential technological states of existence and the likely biological natures of their monsters than I am about much else in sufficient enough relation to them, at present," said Terna, even as she then finished her current cup of tea and her current sandwich.

As Terna and Darien conversed with each other in English, in the meantime, Hitomi quietly sipped her tea any number of times and studied the information on the papers Terna had just given her. She soon thought, "We still need a great deal more information about the Negaverse, it seems to me. And Darien most certainly needs more assistance in terms of fighting them, one way or another, somehow. For I still have no idea just when he'll be able to have another human or humanoid-type of being regularly fighting alongside him in battles easily enough. Or just who his potential future teammates might be, if anyone at all," along with any number of other things during her current companions' present conversation.

Once Darien felt that he'd examined the Terna-given papers and ledgers and re-examined the news clippings-filled album that Hitomi had earlier let him look at sufficiently well, he said, in Japanese, "Very well, Wakahisa-san, just as long as you're as honest as you possibly can be with me in the future, I promise you that I'll try to help you all I can financially. But please don't forget that while I still have substantial financial resources at my disposal, and even more such resources are now locked in a trust for me until I reach a certain age in my own life, I also have certain necessary living expenses that must be covered every so often. Not to mention the fact that I'm currently a college student studying to become a doctor later in life, if I possibly can be one later on in it." But he only said those things to her after much silent thought, and perhaps not a little bit of apprehension, at least, if not other feelings as well,

Hitomi nodded, and then said, in Japanese, "Noted, Shields-san. I promise you that I'll try to be as honest with you at all times, whenever possible, then. There is still much I myself don't remember about certain things in my own life, to be totally honest with you as well here. I too don't seem to remember certain things and people from quite a while ago in my own life, for some yet-unknown reason or reasons here and now, in truth."

"Okay, I've seen enough information for now related to your design studio and its finances, at least, I think. You mentioned a location where you wanted certain supplies to be deposited at, et cetera. I'd like to know why, if I may ask. Supposing you haven't yet told me everything I may currently need to know about it, et cetera, Wakahisa-san."

"Information that we've learned recently seems to suggest that the Negaverse is searching for a place where they can easily base their assorted operations from here in Tokyo. And they now seem to have their eyes somewhat heavily on this location as a prospective base location for those operations of theirs. Seeing as it is well within reach of various parts of Tokyo that they may want to hit in them later on, if our information is sufficiently accurate at the current time, Shields-san," said Hitomi.

"Which means, in essence?" asked Darien, in between very short sips of his tea.

"That if they do somewhat heavily covet that possible location as a potential place to base their operations out of here in the Tokyo metropolitan area, then it would only be smart to try and deny them that location as best as we possibly can, and for as long as we possibly can, would it not?"

"That seems logical. But how do you suggest we may be able to somehow do that, Wakahisa-san?"

"We're in the process of trying to figure that sort of thing out even now, Shields-san," said Hitomi, as she soon began to collect both of the now-empty cups and the plate that several sandwiches had just been on here, and poured one last cup of tea for Terna here.

"Fair enough. So where do you think the next battle or battles may occur, when they make their next appearance here in the local area?"  
"Either in a possibly abandoned warehouse or some sort of factory, if not both, we suspect, at or near the location on the papers that Wakahisa-san gave you right after the fight at her design studio just a little while ago, Mr. Shields. Of course, we could be wrong, to at least some degree, if not to a great degree. But both I and a number of others have still periodically seen them trying to scope out the area, among other things, for sure. So they must evidently be planning to do something in and around that area, if we are not too mistaken here. For why else would they seem to be so intent on that part of Tokyo? Especially in and around that location? Sheer logic suggests that they have major potential designs on that particular location and its immediate area, based on currently-available information about that place and the area around it, for sure," said Terna.

"Okay, I'll grant you that possibility, ladies. But can either of you tell me when I may find other definite non-animal allies to regularly fight alongside?"

"No, unfortunately we are currently unable to do just that for sure. But we have still begun to search for such people who may be able to assist you directly sometime yet in the future, just the same. So it seems that you will have to continue fighting them, at least for now, with no such human allies during most, if not all, future battles you will fight until they each may finally awaken sufficiently well, Mr. Shields."

"But we still do have some devices you might perhaps find useful against them in the future, until you start gaining the actual allies in battle that you most definitely do need fairly soon, Shields-san," said Hitomi, as she began storing away the papers Terna had earlier handed her in her briefcase still on the table, along with the album of news clippings that Darien had earlier looked at.

After a quick nodding to Terna, Hitomi then said, "Frinussi-san here has a few devices for you that you can use periodically to know more about what our mutual enemies may be doing, and even at least one or two communications-type devices, for your information. You'll want to always carry at least one communications device that we provide you with, even if it's only inside a subspace pocket of some kind most of the time."

"What do you mean by a subspace pocket of some kind, Wakahisa-san?"

"A subspace pocket is where superheroic-type beings can often hide their items, Shields-san. You'll be getting at least one or two of your own. As will others who may aid you in the future. We don't understand how those things may work, but we strongly suspect they are like pocket dimensions. Based on available surveillance camera video records of your two previous fights at both the jewelry store and my design studio, we believe that your roses and other items have been, are being, and will be, kept somehow in subspace, until such time as they're needed for transformations or whatnot," said Hitomi. She said these things even as Terna began handing Darien several items, including electronic devices, showing him how to consciously access his subspace pocket or pockets, how to protect them from being seen, detected, or stolen from by other people or beings he might encounter in the future, and how to use them when possible in it.

It took several minutes until she and Hitomi were satisfied he'd understood all the things that Terna had been showing him. When they were, Darien asked, "Will that be all, then, ladies, at least for now?"

"Yes, I believe so, Shields-san. You may leave here at any time, now, then," said Hitomi, even while noticing that it was now rapidly approaching 9 pm local time in the Tokyo area of Japan, according to a nearby clock on one wall of their current room.

"Thank you. Do you mind if I take these ledgers with me, so I can figure out just how best I may be able to assist you here financially, at least?"

"You may take one of them, for now, at least. Be very careful with it, for if the Negaverse or its agents get control of it, it may embolden them, and make them quite pleased indeed, at the very least, I think, Shields-san. We'll need to have it back, though, in a few days, if at all possible, most likely."

"How will I be able to return it to you, Wakahisa-san?" asked Darien, as he took one of those ledgers, and quite carefully indeed stashed it quickly away in his subspace pocket here and now.

"We'll discuss that after your next battle, if at all possible. Rest up, if and whenever you can. And also you may want to start gradually training at your local Athletic Club, if you haven't already begun to do so. That should hopefully help you improve your current physical condition, I'm reasonably certain, so that you can fight better, et cetera, in future fights against our mutual enemies, Shields-san."

"While I do all these things, then, what will you perhaps be doing, Wakahisa-san?"

"We'll be trying to do things like identifying potential future teammates of yours, for instance. Or trying to find out more reliable enough information about the Negaverse and the things that it's most likely trying to do in various places all over the world, and most especially around here, for sure."

"Just how much time, exactly, do you think it actually will be that I may still have available to me before the next battle happens, then, ladies?"

"Unknown, Mr. Shields. But based on recent intelligence that we have perhaps been able to confirm well enough, it seems that they may now possibly be planning to carry out their next operation within the next few days, at most. If even that, come to think of it. And with that said, I think it is just about time that I must go from here. For my parents are expecting me back home by no later than 9:30 pm local time, in truth. Please take care, and perhaps we will see each other soon, for sure, Lord willing, of course."

"Yes, Frinussi-san, I have no further need of you at present, it seems. You may now return home as needed and as desired, then, of course."

"Thank you, ma'am. Mr. Shields, remember what I said about the information on the papers I gave you earlier, among other things that I told you about here. Do NOT forget, or it could be very troublesome for many people around here, whether they are superheroic-type beings around here or not, for sure."

"Understood, Miss Frinussi," said Darien. Once he said that, Terna left almost immediately. Once she was gone, Darien said, in English, "I noticed she hardly, if ever, uses any contractions if she doesn't have to, Wakahisa-san."

"That's true. However, I can't tell you just why she normally will do that. For it's not my place to say, without her full knowledge and/or consent. At least it isn't now, anyway, if it won't always be so, in direct enough relation to her, Shields-san."

"Point taken. Mind if I leave now, then?"

"Go right ahead, Shields-san. Besides, I have to leave here as well, anyway. For my husband and children are all still waiting for me back at home."

"Do you need an escort home?" he asked, as she then gave him a book on roses.

"No, I don't, for I have my ways of getting home well enough and safely enough at this time. So I'll let you go now, and await our next meeting, then. Stay safe, and please do be careful, okay?"

"I'll try."

"Good. Hope you have a good rest of the night, too, by the way."

After she said that, he soon walked out the same door that he'd earlier been escorted through to meet with Hitomi and Terna here. She watched him go, and then moved to a certain place near one corner of the room that Darien had not yet seen, before pressing a few buttons on a console for a few seconds, and stepping onto a certain square on the floor that appeared to be about the size of a typical bathroom weight scale.

No more than twenty seconds later, then, the entire room was empty, in terms of actual humans being present there sufficiently well at the current time. For she'd just used some sort of futuristic teleportation device to travel from the library to her family residence's living room, in truth, somewhere else in Tokyo.

Darien soon encountered Ami, Amy, Klavan, and Pita, in that exact order on his way out of the library, only briefly talking with each of them on it, and not about all that much, if anything, as he began leaving the library here. For they too, except Pita, then were in the process of leaving it as well, for their own respective residences elsewhere in Tokyo. Pita, however, still couldn't leave. For she'd have to remain at the library until it ultimately would close for the night at 10:30 pm local time.

Ultimately, Darien arrived back at his apartment, and soon conversed with Seeker and Wanderer for a while. Even as he quickly prepared a late supper for them all as needed, quite naturally enough. They basically spent a long time talking as he not only made their suppers, but as they also ate them, with Darien often asking quite a few questions of Seeker and Wanderer here. No matter what they might possibly be, for sure.

After supper, he spent several hours either working on his studies, reading about various types of roses mentioned in the book that Hitomi had given him earlier, or reading from the astronomy-related book he still had, courtesy of Ami Mizuno. While Seeker and Wanderer soon decided to find other things to do, both inside and outside of his apartment, whatever those other things might possibly be, in any case at all.

Ultimately, they did, however, leave his apartment again, by way of his balcony, and with Seeker riding securely on Wanderer's back in a sling of some sort that Darien had fashioned out of older materials that he most likely wouldn't need any more for his own use. They decided to try to find out more information about their current and potentially-future enemies. And they also told Darien to make sure that he left the television on in his living room area when he finally went to bed, just in case he decided to lock the doors to his balcony again from the inside at that time. He agreed to do that, and then they left his apartment by way of his balcony, to do whatever they both felt they now had to do.

He wondered quite a bit about just how effective their attempts to somehow gain enough additional and useful information might prove to be. At least in sufficient enough relation to the Negaverse and their likely allies of all kinds, of course. And he also really hoped that they'd both be just as careful as they both could then be. Even while exploring in various places all over Tokyo, at least, if not elsewhere in Japan, as well.

After reading and studying for quite a while, he went to bed, shortly after leaving a television on in his living room area. Only to be visited yet again in his dreams by a still-unidentifiable person who now seemed to have a young woman's or young girl's voice, somehow, multiple times, during the night. He didn't sleep very well and very soundly for most, if not all, of the night while he still was in his bed, as a result.

This sort of thing would become quite commonplace for him for quite some length of time, for reasons not yet known either to him or to anyone else sufficiently well, for sure. He and others would ultimately try to learn why he was beginning to have these strange dreams of his. But nobody would know just why for quite some time, until certain other things happened for him, at least, if not also anyone else as well.

End of Chapter Three

* * *

There will certainly be at least one fight and at least one argument in the next chapter of this tale. Also, we will see Queen Beryl and at least one Negaverse General besides Jadeite in it, for sure. I have been quite busy for quite a while with certain other things, so this third chapter was delayed in its eventual delivery to you all, unfortunately. Things like entering a short story-writing contest with a version of an original fiction-type story, for instance. However, my story wasn't picked to be published in some version by the people running that contest. But at least I entered one, and also still tried to do the very best I possibly could to then come up with a good enough tale to be published. I realized that there was a chance my story wouldn't be picked for possible publication where I sent a version of it off to. But this just means that maybe another market might take it and publish it eventually if it's worked on more and to a sufficient enough degree, et cetera, I think. Not being picked for possible publication for that market isn't going to keep me from continuing to write if and whenever I can, folks, whether it's for fan fiction or original fiction, I'm quite sure. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if all goes sufficiently according to plan, perhaps I'll even have the next chapter out within the next few days or weeks, somehow. TUS out.


	4. A Destined Discovery?

In the last chapter, we saw Darien encounter several people who will be major parts of this story and/or its related series of stories, and many of them will be present when certain major events take place in either. Just how they will, exactly, remains to be seen, of course, but they most definitely will, folks, I promise you all this, as the story and/or its related series continues here well enough.

Now, seeing as we have not yet really seen much from the Negaverse so far in this story, other than there having been two heroes-foiled energy-gathering plans of theirs so far in it, we therefore will be starting the next chapter somewhere in the Negaverse before the next fight or fights take place in this chapter. To this particular point in time, Negaverse General Jadeite has only made one actual physical appearance at the location of a Negaverse attack, and that was back in Chapter Two, during the fashion show earlier. He most definitely will appear again in the field, so to speak, in this chapter, but just when he will, you will all just have to wait and see, of course, folks.

We will get to know at least a little bit more about the Negaverse in this chapter before the next attack, but we certainly will not yet see all four or five of the Negaverse's current Generals in the story, for sure. For it's not yet time for them to appear, even if I were to stick closer to established canon versions of Sailor Moon, I believe, in this story here. Queen Beryl and General Jadeite, at least, among those in the Negaverse, will certainly appear, and possibly Nephlyte may appear briefly as well. But neither of the two Zoisite siblings nor Malachite AKA Kunzite will, most definitely, for it's still much too early to show them in this story here.

The Negaverse that will be seen periodically in this particular story series will most likely have a not-inconsiderable mixture of already-known details from established Sailor Moon canon versions, and perhaps even some from at least Codename: Sailor V. If not also certain canon versions of other source materials of all kinds, as well. But not all the related details I will ultimately come include for it will necessarily be from just one version of Sailor Moon's related canons, in any case at all, for sure, folks. I may even mix in some original elements and perhaps even some elements inspired by other fandoms and/or other things, for that matter, just so you know. Rest quite assured, though, the Negaverse that the heroes will be battling will be a very difficult one for them to combat here, if I can possibly have it be so, of course. But it still won't necessarily be invincible, for obvious enough reasons, ultimately.

Okay, with all that said here and now, I'll close this introduction here, and take you all to the Negaverse from which most, if not all, of the danger related to it will originate from, in very short order, once I have also included a few blurbs about the new characters who will play significant enough parts over the rest of this current story, at least, if not other related stories as well here. Hope you all like this chapter, of course, once you read it, folks, and will periodically review it, or comment on it, too, quite obviously enough, even privately, if you wish, that is TUS out.

* * *

Queen Beryl - Secondary leader of the Negaverse, subject only to Queen Metallia in terms of leading it in its efforts to take over as much of the known Universe as it possibly somehow can, is an woman of yet-unknown age but who looks like she's perhaps in at least her thirties or forties by normal standards of human appearances, has two horn-like projections of some yet-unknown sort almost always coming visibly out of her arms near her shoulders whenever she's seen, or out of her shoulders, if not out of her arms, fiery red very long and very wavy red hair, orange eyes, and there is still much more to be revealed about her later, when and where possible and necessary and appropriate enough. (Birthdate unknown)

* * *

Nephlyte - Second General of the Negaverse, appears to be anywhere between his early twenties to his late twenties, by normal standards of human appearances, has wavy dark brown hair falling roughly to just past his shoulders, medium green eyes, often dresses somewhat casually, but also somewhat business-like and/or professional, in terms of his usual wardrobe choices, and there is still much more to be revealed about him later, including just what role or roles he will eventually play in future events for this story, et cetera, when and where possible and necessary and appropriate enough. (Birthdate unknown)

* * *

_A Destined Discovery?_

* * *

After the Negaverse's last attack, Jadeite and Queen Beryl were conferring with each other about what Jadeite might then do for his next attempt to gain more human life energy for the Negaverse. His two previous energy-gathering schemes had both failed to turn out as well as expected for both him and the Negaverse, so Queen Beryl was somewhat displeased at the present time.

"Jadeite, what is your next plan to gather human life energy from the inhabitants of Earth?" asked Queen Beryl, as she then sat on her rather ghoulish-looking stone throne in some sort of large cavern area. That cavern area was rather dark in most places except for quite near her three-step throne and in several nearby tunnels to her throne room. Jagged rock projections were quite common, and many skulls of all shapes and sizes and colors were also in her throne room or nearby areas, along with thousands, if not millions, of bones from countless beings who had previously somehow ever angered her sufficiently enough in their lives. A double-ended clawed staff with a hovering darkly-glowing sphere over the top claw for the staff also somehow levitated in front of her about two feet above the step immediately in front of her on her throne.

"We first need to establish a base of operations somewhere on Earth that those who oppose us will not be able to keep us from getting well enough, and my scouts seem to have found an excellent location for that base in the Tokyo area of Japan. They do not believe that our likely enemies are aware of this location, but if they are, they believe that we can capture it and control it as a potential base of operations for future Negaverse operations in Japan, especially from the Tokyo area of it, sufficiently well," answered Jadeite, even as he kept his right fist over the left side of his chest and his head slightly down as if looking at the floor just in front of him, in a deferential posture to Queen Beryl. He was now just about 25 feet or so in front of her as she then sat on her ancient-looking stony throne.

"What do you know of Earth Knight, AKA Tuxedo Mask, at this point in time, or his two animal allies, Jadeite? Please tell me you have at least some useful information about him, at least, if not others as well, that we may be able to utilize in our further attempts to gain human life energy for Queen Metallia's later use."

"He appears to be about 20 or so human years of age, but our attempts to gain sufficient amounts of reliable information about him have proved, to this point, somewhat unfruitful. However, there are reports that seem to suggest that he may be behind some of the recent break-ins at a good-sized number of jewelry shops all over Japan, at the very least. We are still trying to ascertain the veracity of those many reports, but it still seems that either he, or someone who may look quite like him, may now be trying to acquire certain jewels for yet-unknown reasons."

"And what of the two animals you saw when you and a number of our monsters last engaged him at that design studio you targeted earlier? Supposedly, from what I have now learned from certain other sources, his two current animal allies are what the humans may call a peacock and a hedgehog. What do you actually happen to know of them somehow, by any chance?" She then asked those two questions in a somewhat inquisitive, yet also somewhat menacing, tone here, as she also telepathically manipulated the staff levitating just in front of her on her throne.

"They are quite hard to keep track of at this point in time, Your Majesty. We are, however, considering ways to somehow attach trackers of some sort to them in ways they won't be able to prevent, detect, and/or remove sufficiently well. We are also going to try to gain further information about them, so as to better learn their habits, et cetera, before we either try to incapacitate or kill them in time, or at least make it impossible for them to provide any future additional assistance to our likely enemies," Jadeite said, not yet fully looking up, for Queen Beryl had not yet given him permission to do so in the current conference of theirs here.

"I see, and what if more of our likely enemies start to appear, then, Jadeite? How do you plan to deal with them, seeing as we unexpectedly found opposition from Earth Knight and his two current animal allies when you sent two Anidoas to wreak havoc in and around a jewelry shop in Tokyo not too long ago?"

"Then we'll take them out as well, after we find out who they are, and how, I'm sure, Your Majesty," said Jadeite, "One way or another, I'm sure we will, ultimately, and then the Negaverse will prevail."

Just then, another voice was heard from somewhere in the darkness behind Jadeite. The voice was rather masculine-sounding, even though its owner was still quite deep within the quite-present darkness elsewhere in Beryl's throne room. And it sounded like that person was quite skeptical about Jadeite's claims that he and the monsters under his control could somehow handle Earth Knight and any other actual or potential allies of his sufficiently well in the near future. That voice said, "You and your minions haven't done too well, so far, against the humans you sent to gather energy from earlier, Blondie. Methinks you and your minions may be trying to take energy from too many people at once, at the present time, instead of focusing your collection schemes on gathering it from just one or two people at most at a particular time, like we've suggested a number of times before to Queen Beryl."

"Shut up, Nephlyte! What do you know, you stargazer, about gathering human life energy, so far, compared to me?"

"I know you've swung and missed in both your previous schemes to capture and hold it for us, Jadeite," laughed Nephlyte, in very short order, while still being quite shrouded in darkness here.

"And just what is that supposed to mean, perhaps, Nephlyte?"

"Haven't you ever heard of the human sport of baseball?"

"No, what's that?"

"A sport where teams of humans try to outscore each other for fun or for profit, and if one person on such a team gets three strikes against them, they're out."

"Out of what?"

"Out of the game until they have to defend against those on the other team or get to bat again in it."

"You've lost me."

"You have two strikes against you now, and if you get a third, will Beryl let you come up to bat again, so to speak, for us against the humans?"

"Of course, Nephlyte, for I'm her best General in the field to this point!"

"Sure doesn't look like it yet, and you surely seem proud of yourself, considering you've now failed twice here, Blondie. Is it true what the humans say often about those with blonde hair? Meaning is it true that they're often brainless twits, so to speak?"

"At least I'm willing to try again, you lost-in-space red dwarf Chimpanzee!"

"Oh, is that the best your puny little mind can think of at the moment, in terms of a comeback at me? Surely you can do better than that, now, can't you? Or are you as brainless as a lemon?"

The two Negaverse Generals then argued between themselves for a little while, before Queen Beryl suddenly silenced them both with quick waves of both her hands in their directions. That done, she soon said, "Jadeite, I hope this next plan of yours proves much more successful than your previous attempts to gain substantial amounts of human life energy for us have already been. Nephlyte, your mission now is to seek out potential human allies for our cause as secretly as possible, and you are to try your best to make sure that any possible recruits you may gather to help us are not stolen somehow from us by our likely enemies. Our enemies from before had numerous beings on their side of our war with them, and we must rebuild our own forces, just in case they are planning to do the same for theirs."

"And what am I to do, if I am able to find those human allies as recruits to our cause, then, Queen Beryl?" asked Nephlyte.

"If they are somehow sufficiently willing to aid us, or manifest abilities of whatever possible kinds that might help us in the future, et cetera, then start gathering such allies, and begin making them fighters for our side of this matter, somehow. Supposing you can do just that at all, of course, Nephlyte."

"As you wish, Queen Beryl. Just keep Blondie as far away from me as possible, so that his goof-ups don't mess with my own plans here, and your orders to me just as now, please, if you don't mind too much?"

"As you wish, as long as you perform sufficiently well, with your assigned tasks or your plans, to satisfy me with useful results that will help us in our war against those on Earth, I will keep Jadeite as far as I can away from you. In return, you will not interfere with his own plans any more than you have to, while he is still attempting to execute his own energy-gathering schemes for us on Earth. Is that clear?"

Nephlyte soon answered, "Yes, Queen Beryl, it is."

"Then both of you are dismissed. Do not fail me again, Jadeite, in terms of sufficient enough success at something that will help us do what we want and need to do on Earth. Even if it's only in the area of gathering intelligence that we may possibly be able to use well enough in the future, for instance. Got it?"

"Yes, Queen Beryl, I will soon show you that I can be a better General at carrying out missions assigned to me than this red dwarf stargazing Chimpanzee, one way or another, somehow."

"I look forward to it, then, if and when you somehow succeed well enough. Now leave me, you two, for I must contemplate all the newest information that you have now given me, Jadeite, so I can decide how we should best proceed soon enough."

The two Negaverse Generals soon departed to their respective rooms elsewhere in the cavern system, and began plotting further missions of theirs against the inhabitants of Earth, but not without first shooting each other with at least angry-looking glares, if not even more expressive ones, at that. And several monsters, mostly human-sized, more or less, at least occasionally were soon congregating with either of them as they then did so in their own rooms.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Tokyo, Darien was hanging out just after his college classes had ended the day after his meeting with Hitomi, and he was at the Crown Arcade having some coffee and a piece of cherry pie with whipped cream on top even while studying from his chemistry textbook again here. He was wearing his usual black motorcycle jacket over a pair of nice khaki pants and a white long-sleeved shirt, and black shoes were on his feet.

It was now just after 4, and Darien had been in the Crown Arcade for about half an hour or so when Serena and several others soon entered it as well. Those others included Keitaro Urashima and Usagi Tsukino, to name just a few of them, in fact. Sylvia and Rolando were there as well, having been invited there by other classmates of theirs at their school.

Sylvia and Rolando, among others then in the arcade, were wearing their school uniforms from their school in SEST, and that school was called, in English, "Chrysanthemum Trekker Academy." In Sylvia's case, she was wearing a mostly white blouse, a knee-length navy blue skirt, a mostly bright red sailor-style collar, a navy blue bow in the front, and navy blue strapped pumps. In Rolando's case, he was wearing a mostly navy blue uniform jacket, mostly navy blue trousers, and black business-style shoes. Several others in the arcade also were similarly dressed, but not all school-aged people in it were dressed like Sylvia and Rolando each were, for there were teenagers from at least four different Tokyo-area schools now in the arcade, in fact.

As for Serena and Usagi, they were currently wearing uniforms that marked them as students at Crossroads Junior High School which was located not very far at all from the arcade in Azabu Juuban. Those uniforms of theirs consisted of a white long-sleeved blouse, a blue knee-length pleated skirt, a blue collar, a red bow, and black loafers with crossing straps in the front for each of them. And they came straight to the arcade from school after having had detention that day for being late to class that morning, but not together.

As for Keitaro, he was there to get some food and beverages at the request of several of his tenants at the Hinata Apartments and of Shinobu, on his way home from his own college classes on the current day at Toudai, also known often as Tokyo University or as the University of Tokyo by many in Japan. He hadn't yet come here before, but whenever he and certain others might meet each other after their college classes, they might eventually come to meet each other at least every once in a while at the Crown Arcade in the future.

He soon took a seat near Darien, and ordered some food and various beverages from Motoki. Not just for himself, but for nine other people, in fact. For they had requested him to do so before he'd caught his morning train to Tokyo so that he could attend his college classes that day, seeing as the rest of them wouldn't likely be able to get the items they wanted to get themselves on that day, for various reasons.

As Keitaro waited for the food and drink items to be provided to him, he soon caught himself looking Darien's way for a few moments. He studied Darien for a few seconds, at least, before Darien noticed him doing so right next to him, and then Keitaro asked, in Japanese, "Have we met, sir? You seem at least a little familiar to me, for some reason I can't quite fathom just yet."

Darien soon turned to Keitaro, and studied him as well for at least a few seconds, before replying, also in Japanese, "I really don't think so, stranger. You seem to be college-aged, though, if I don't miss my guess too much here."

"I am. I attend Toudai. Do you?" asked Keitaro, as he then took a sketchbook and a pen out of a backpack then on the floor near him, and turned to an empty page for that sketchbook.

"No, I attend Keio. I am studying to be a doctor," said Darien.

"I see. And is your coursework fairly tough, then?"

"It's hard, but I do well in my classes, still, though. May I ask who you are, then?"

"I am Keitaro Urashima, sir."

"Pleased to meet you, whether or not we've actually met before in our lives somehow. My name is Darien Shields, Urashima-san."

"The feeling is mutual, Shields-san." Keitaro soon began randomly sketching in his sketchbook for a little while, once certain areas of it caught his attention well enough at the current time, and/or certain people in it at that time.

Just then, Motoki brought several small boxes to Keitaro, and a few beverage containers, containing the various items he'd just ordered here, or at least some of those things, anyway. On his way there, he soon saw both Usagi and Serena, and said, "Ladies, I'll be with you shortly, as quickly as I can. We've got a fuller house than usual this afternoon, it seems. So you'll have to wait a little longer than usual, it seems, today, before I can take your orders well enough.

"Okay, Motoki-kun, take your time, then," called Usagi. "Moon-san and I can wait a bit longer, perhaps, if we have to." Both Usagi and Serena now had their medium blonde hair in buns and tails as was normally the case for them in their lives, with two tails for both of them, one on each side. And those tails were more or less floor-length as they trailed behind them and their backs, as well.

"Just don't wait too long, for it seems we have two Odango Atamas who are very hungry here, Motoki," said Mamoru, as he suddenly entered the arcade not too long after both Serena and Usagi had earlier entered it.

"Can it, Mophead #2!" shouted Serena, just as soon as she realized Mamoru was now in the arcade as well. "You shouldn't make fun of our beautiful hairstyle here, you conceited baboonish jerk!"

"Pasta and Odangos for hair does not a beautiful hairstyle make, Odango Atamas," laughed Mamoru.

"Do you even know who you now are dealing with right here at all, Chiba?" asked Usagi, starting to get really upset at Mamoru, seeing as he was now evidently thinking that it was all right to tease girls just because of how their hair might look for them in their lives.

"I'm dealing with two very hungry girls now, it seems. Can't you take a joke, you two?" asked Mamoru, in very short order.

"Not when it comes to our hair, at least, Mophead #2!" shouted Serena.

"Oh, cute, cue the childish insult reel, why don't we?" teased Mamoru.

"You started it!" yelled Usagi.

Mamoru then took a seat on the other side of Keitaro from Darien, and soon ordered a few things from Motoki's red-haired sister Unazuki for himself, before ultimately taking out a few of his own textbooks here. "You're so teasable, Odango Atamas."

"We are not Odango Atamas, Mamoru-baka!" shouted Usagi, getting increasingly upset here, as she began to quickly clench and unclench her fists a few times at the present time, out of increasing frustration here with him in the arcade.

"I see another failed test sticking out of your backpack, Odango Tsukino, so something must have not stuck from your teacher's related lesson or lessons, it seems," said Mamoru, somewhat smugly.

"You're impossible, Chiba!" shouted Usagi, now thoroughly frustrated even more with him here than she had been just seconds before.

"Why thank you, Odango Atama! Nice to know that you both apparently think I'm cool."

"You are not cool, you pompous twit! And neither is your lookalike over there near you, that clueless Mophead who's apparently trying to hide a smirk he now seems to suddenly be developing here, from what I can currently tell well enough somehow at this angle," said Serena, as she and Usagi neared Darien, Keitaro, and Mamoru's respective stools at the counter, in very short order.

Keitaro quietly observed the arguing between the girls and Mamoru, and soon asked, "Does this happen often, Shields-san?"

"Not yet, but it has begun to happen somewhat within the last few days, perhaps, it seems to me. You see the other guy who looks like me?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well, those girls have started to interact with both him and me, and we have started to find ourselves meeting more often than we might yet expect. And seeing as we're boys, and they're girls, we don't always see eye to eye on everything, for obvious reasons, of course, Urashima-san."

"Isn't that just the way of things sometimes when people haven't likely known each other for very long, perhaps, Shields-san?" He began to sketch in some more detailed work for the sketch that he was then working on here.

"I suppose so. Why do you ask, if I may ask?"

"Because a few of my tenants and I didn't really get off to good starts with each other when I came to the Hinata Apartments that I now manage with the help of my wife, Shields-san. I was usually accused falsely of any number of things, without being able to tell my side of the related stories, and hit, among other things, by a number of my tenants, in fact, without just cause many times."

Keitaro then looked at Serena and Usagi, and commented, "A number of my tenants used to yell at me quite often, in fact, before we really got to know each other well enough in our lives."

"Ah, I see. Girls jumping on guys without cause often, perhaps?" asked Darien.

"Yes, all my tenants were girls at the time I came there, as a teenager, and at least two of them actually did often think that they had the right to try to kick me out of my family's property that my grandmother made me the manager of, you see, just because they were girls. A number of them even claimed that males shouldn't be present at an all-girls dormitory, which my grandmother had forgotten to tell me she'd turned that property into before I arrived there once I'd received a summons to it. Either that, or she'd chosen not to tell me, I believe, at that."

"Girls like these two, for instance, perhaps?"

"I don't know, but these two are sure yelling a lot, it seems," said Keitaro, as he continued to sketch certain details for a sketch he'd just started here. He continued to sketch for a little while longer, until Motoki came back with several more food and drink items that he'd also earlier ordered when he'd ordered the first items that had already been brought to him. Once all the food and drink items that Keitaro had earlier ordered were brought to him as needed, Keitaro then gathered up all his things, and put them into a cart near the front door of the arcade, along with all the things that he'd earlier ordered from Motoki here.

As he was in the process of doing so, Serena and Usagi said, "Oh, my. That's quite a lot of food and drink items here, it seems."

"You would both know, wouldn't you, Meatball Heads?" asked Darien.

"What's that supposed to mean, Mophead?" said Serena, with a bit of fire still simmering in her eyes from her still-unended argument with Mamoru here

"Your appetites around here are already legendary, it seems," laughed Darien.

"No, they're not, you conceited jerk!" exclaimed Serena. "And what business is it of yours, anyway, if we girls want to eat a lot due to the fact that we're still growing girls in our lives?"

"Bet you don't often have much of your allowances left once you come here and pig out for a while many times, then," said Darien, with a wide grin on his face at the present time.

"So what if we don't, Shields-san? At least we're welcome to come here at any time possible, I'm quite sure. Right, Onii-chan?" asked Usagi.

"That's right, Usagi-chan. That you both are," said Motoki, as he passed by on his way to attend to another two customers at the arcade, both wearing school uniforms from a school called the Infinity Academy, another Tokyo-area school, sitting in the arcade's attached restaurant area.

"See, Furuhata-san likes us, it seems, quite a bit, in fact, Mophead. So, there! Take that, if you're man enough to, somehow!" crowed Serena.

"You couldn't handle a man like me, Meatball Head, I'm quite sure," said Darien, in a semi-serious manner, all of a sudden.

"Oh, yeah? You're not so tough when you get knocked down, are you? Or have you already forgotten about me bonking you like I did earlier when we first met?"

"No, I haven't. How could I forget that, when you threw it so hard like you did at me, Meatball Head?"

Just then, Keitaro heard a cellphone-like device ringing on his belt with an Ode to Joy ringtone, and he soon reached for it, and said, as he was putting the last of the previously-ordered items into his cart, "On my way, Narusegawa. Just leaving the Crown Arcade now, in fact. Should be back within half an hour to an hour, if I'm somehow lucky enough, I think. Tell Shinobu to keep Kaolla settled down by giving her bananas to eat until we get there. I'll have a lot of stuff on my motorcycle, and I'll probably need some help unloading it so that she doesn't raid it before it's all taken care of well enough."

He waited for at least a few more seconds before speaking again, as he exited the arcade long enough to load the necessary items onto his motorcycle as needed, then re-entered it just long enough to return his cart to the proper place near the front of the arcade prior to his departure from it for at least the rest of the night, if not even longer than that.

The four arguers briefly paused in their arguing to watch him leave, for some yet-unknown reason, but not for very long, in fact. Serena was the first of them to speak again, when she said, "I'm not a Meatball Head at anything, Mophead."

"My name is Darien, not Mophead. A fact you seem to have quite conveniently forgotten here, Meatball Head. Do you often forget people's names, by any chance at all?"

"No, of course not, Mophead. I certainly don't forget my own name, of course. I am Serena, not Meatball Head!"

"If your name is Serena, why are you then being anything but serene, then?" questioned Darien, while also sticking his tongue out at her and his thumbs in his ears.

"Because I'm now having to deal with a baboon like you, that's why! Ugh!" shouted Serena, with a very frustrated and very annoyed look on her face at the present time.

"He's not a baboon, just as I'm not one either, Odango Atama #2," piped in Mamoru, in very short order.

"You are both clueless, Mophead #2, it seems to me here and now. You don't know much, if anything, about how girls are, I think!" Serena yelled, as she also shot him a very serious glare that possibly promised retribution in some way if he didn't just shut up here very soon, in fact.

"Well, if that's true, you girls, or should I say babies, don't seem to really know all that much, if anything about how boys are, either, come to think of it," said Mamoru.

"We're not babies, we're girls!" said Usagi.

"Babies, girls, same thing, perhaps, in essence. Both often cry too much, maybe, when they don't need to, even, in their lives," said Mamoru.

"You boys are impossible, quite often, I think, when it comes to dealing with girls. It makes me wonder often why some girls might even want to put up with you guys so often in this world of ours," said Serena.

"Because you need us to do your dirty work, when you're afraid to do it yourselves, perhaps, Odango Atama #2, that's why, I think. Or when you girls can't, because you're often too weak or too small to do it yourselves, perhaps, even."

"Fine, be brats if you both want to, punks. Just you wait, you two, for someday, someone might want to get after you for your male chauvinistic egos, or whatnot, I'm quite sure, most likely." said Usagi, as she also looked at a nearby wall clock, and saw it was now nearly 4:30 pm local time.

Serena called out to Motoki, "Are our usual items ready by now, by any chance, somehow, Furuhata-san? I think Tsukino-san and I are going to want to consume them elsewhere now, seeing as these two brats are now evidently picking on us here, of course."

"Sure thing, ladies. Follow me."

The girls soon followed him to the counter, but stayed as far away from both Mamoru and Darien here as they then could, while Motoki then proceeded to give them their things that they'd normally order whenever they'd come to the arcade for a while at least a few times a week, on average. Once they received those items, they both soon left the arcade behind again as they then saw fit, of course, not wanting to stay any longer at it while the boys they didn't like much were both still there, for that matter.

Those boys watched them both go, and then Darien said, "Do you think we were a little too hard on them just now, Mamoru-san?"

"They need to toughen up, and understand that the real world out there isn't always one of a fairytale-like nature, I think, Darien-san. They still have families of their own that they can go deal with, no doubt, but we no longer do, as you know, seeing as we're both orphans, after all."

"I see. And you think that if we pick on them, they might learn that better?"

"Maybe, but I'm not entirely sure about that just yet, for some yet-unknown reason or reasons in my life, I think, Darien-san."

"I hope you know what you're doing, then, if you're mainly going to try to toughen up Tsukino-san, at least, of course."

"You primarily deal with Moon-san, and I'll do the same with Tsukino-san, and we'll see what happens, in time, I'm quite sure," said Mamoru.

"Fine, Mamoru-san, but I still get this feeling somehow, that there may possibly be a much better way to do so well enough, in time. Although I don't really know just why I'm getting such a feeling periodically in my own life now, by the way. Anyway, I suppose I'd best be going, for I just remembered some things I have to attend to here before it starts getting too dark around here tonight, if memory serves."

"Very well, then. I'll see you again later, then, perhaps, Darien-san?"

"Hope so, of course."

Darien soon left the arcade, and Mamoru left it himself several minutes later, for various reasons related to either or both of them, in fact. Motoki watched them both leave, while also beginning to wipe down several tables in the arcade's restaurant area for a while. As he did so, Sylvia, while sitting at a nearby table to where he was then, with Rolando, soon asked him, "Furuhata-san, how long have you known those four, if I might ask, perhaps?" In front of each of them were mostly-eaten slices of pie, with hers being a banana cream pie slice, and his being a blueberry pie slice, and tall glasses of mostly-consumed chocolate milk.

"I've known the boys for a few years, or at least Chiba-san, personally. I don't yet know all that much about Shields-san, for he's an American, but have known of him for at least a few years through Chiba-san, for they spent a number of years being penpals before Shields-san came to Japan for college, Wakefield-san," said Motoki, while continuing to wipe down a table three tables away from her and Rolando at the present time.

"I see. And?" asked Sylvia, as she then finished the rest of her pie and drained the rest of her milk

"From what I know of either of them, both are often quite serious in their respective lives, for various reasons, not to mention the fact that they both live on their own, for reasons I'm not at liberty to divulge to you at the present time, at least, Wakefield-san."

Rolando then asked, while taking a bite of his still-remaining pie in front of him, "What about the girls? What do you know of either of them?"

"I know more about Tsukino-san than I do about Moon-san, for I've known Tsukino-san now, I believe, for about eight years, if I'm not too mistaken here. As for Moon-san, she and her family have only been here in Japan for about two years, more or less, and she and her family's other members came to Japan from the United States some time ago, Volois-san."

"I see. Okay, thank you for the information, then, Furuhata-san. We both have this very strange and very unexplainable suspicion currently that they will often be seeing each other, and that we will often see each other at times in our lives, for reasons we most likely aren't aware of well enough at present, in truth. We don't know why, just yet, if we ever will, but we both still think both we and they will often be meeting each other in the future, somehow, just the same," said Rolando, as he then finished the rest of his own pie and milk here.

"I don't understand, Volois-san."

"Nor do we, unfortunately, as of the current time. But we both still have this feeling that they all will play key parts in certain yet-unknown future events, somehow, just the same. In the meantime, though, I think that Wakefield-san and I now both need to be off here, for we both need to be at our respective residences again by 6 pm, at the very latest, for sure. Hopefully we'll be able to come back here again at some later point, of course, then."

"Safe journeys, then, you two."

"Thank you, Furuhata-san." Without another word, then, both Sylvia and Rolando quickly gathered up their respective things, in very short order, and left the arcade behind as well, for at least the rest of the current night, even if they might have actually wanted to stay there at least a little bit longer on the current day.

The arcade eventually closed for the night, of course, and Motoki was the last one there when it did so, quite naturally enough. He soon went to his own rooms above the arcade, and stayed in them the rest of the night, seeing as Reika was otherwise occupied during it, for that matter.

* * *

The following day, somewhere back in the Negaverse, Jadeite was then with a very large number of monsters, and in the process of finalizing the necessary details for his next attempt to gather energy for the Negaverse. Many of those monsters were small gliding coyote/pig-like quadrupeds, and most of the other monsters currently present were more balloon-like in their natures. The quadrupedal monsters were called Sconds, and the balloon-like ones were called Jilurals.

His scouts had gathered much information for him about the location where he'd be sending a number of monsters to on the following night, and it was a location that was roughly 250 feet by roughly 250 feet in size, more or less. Two buildings were joined in the middle of that area, one of them being an abandoned warehouse, and the other being an old factory, by three huge garage-sized rooms. Overall, the buildings and their connected areas were in the middle of the aforementioned location, and from each corner to their adjacent corners, the distance was exactly 216 feet. The warehouse part of the complex was directly north of the factory part of it and the connecting rooms that joined it to the factory part of it.

Each main building on the complex was 216 feet long and 84 feet wide. The connecting areas that joined them together were each 48 feet by 48 feet in size, and there were two areas between each of them that were 36 feet long and 48 feet wide, so as to perhaps allow movement between each of the connecting areas on foot, for instance, without having to first go through either main area. Or between the two main buildings without using the connecting areas themselves, even.

Inside the complex, there were many things of all kinds laying around, or otherwise present, in various conditions of existence, including many pieces of equipment in various orientations and statuses of being. A great number of them were in serious need of repair or replacement, for instance, even.

But the complex basically hadn't been used for a number of years, after still-recent natural disasters or certain economic factors had driven their previous occupants out of the area in question here to a sufficient enough degree. Hence the several years-long absence of many people from the immediate area of the complex at the present time, at least.

As it was in a somewhat run-down condition, not many businesses or people were currently known to hang around with each other in the immediate area of the complex. So this was just one reason of several why the Negaverse was currently interested in it as a potential location for a Earth-based base of operations in the Tokyo area of Japan. They thought that if they could somehow gain sufficient enough control over it and the immediately surrounding area, they might then be able to strike much easier at humanity in their quests for energy, for instance. But what they didn't know for sure was that at least two other groups in the Tokyo area would not just let them have the location all to themselves somehow without at least some fighting for it from them, if not more than just two other groups, for it was well within reach of many other locations anywhere at all in the Tokyo area of Japan, at least. Or at least they didn't yet know that, if they ever would, anyway.

Jadeite continued to finalize his mission plans while also periodically talking to the many monsters then with him in his rooms somewhere in the Negaverse, and even provided a number of devices to a good number of them for later use when they would invade that area the following night. A number of them asked what they should do if they encountered any resistance of any kind, to which, Jadeite soon said, "If they are human, try to drain their life energy, if at all possible, somehow, at the very least. If animal, try to kill or capture them. Of course, you are authorized to try and defend yourselves against them, if needed and if possible, everyone, as best as you each somehow can."

"And if we youma are somehow actually not able to kill or capture them, supposing they definitely are trying to help out humans fighting against us, then what, General Jadeite?" asked one of the Jilurals.

"Then at least try to put tracers or something on each of them, if at all possible, so that we may then perhaps be able to track them well enough somehow in the future, and hopefully learn more of their habits, et cetera, than they may actually want or expect us to know about them and any humans they may then be with at any possible time or times, of course, Xiatlaajaki," said Jadeite to the Jilural who'd just asked him a question here and now.

Jadeite and his currently-assembled monsters spent most of the current Earth day planning their attack on the following Earth night, with Jadeite periodically teleporting to Earth while doing so to check in every so often to get updated reports on the area in question from his scouts in it. After doing so several times prior to local midnight in the Tokyo area of Japan, he then went to bed, with his hope being he could get at least enough rest for himself before the upcoming battle in the somewhat deserted warehouse/factory complex's immediate area, and had his monsters who also needed to rest before then do the same. While others didn't, for various reasons, at least some of which might or might possibly not be so obvious to any number of sufficiently sentient beings anywhere at all in the known Universe or in the Negaverse.

After Jadeite and a number of his monsters went to bed, Nephlyte decided to do a little prowling around himself on Earth, in hopes of being able to find certain people he could perhaps draft as potential allies or fighters for the Negaverse, due to the orders that Queen Beryl had earlier given him when Jadeite had been arguing with him in her presence.

He soon found himself in Accra, Ghana, after teleporting to Earth intent on starting to seek out potential allies for the Negaverse to periodically use in the future against those who would oppose the Negaverse and its various plans in it. He teleported himself near a store selling clothes in the middle of Accra, and waited in an alley near there until he felt it was safe enough for him to come out, seeing as many were near where he had exited his portal to Accra. He had to wait a few minutes, though, for the area to clear out enough, before he found the back door to the aforementioned store not far from where he was then hiding temporarily. He then slowly opened that door, once he was quite certain that he wasn't being seen or watched or detected by anyone or anything. That back door led to a storeroom of some sort, in very short order. Keeping an eye and an ear out for possible trouble, then, Nephlyte quickly ducked into that storeroom, while also constantly scanning the area for possible surveillance cameras and other electronic devices that might be around anywhere in the store that he was now in. Minutes later, at most, after quickly going through several of the available clothing items by sight, at least, if not also by touch and/or smell, et cetera, he swiped a number of them for his later potential use, before then leaving the storeroom behind just as quickly as he'd earlier entered it. That done, he quickly went back to where he'd just appeared after teleporting to Accra from the Negaverse, before withdrawing deeper into the alley now in question here.

Mere moments later, after a brief period of hiding inside shadows now in the alley, he came out of the less-well-lit areas of it wearing one of the new business casual-style outfits he'd just swiped from the nearby store. It was a medium gray three-piece outfit, but no tie was included, with him wearing a light gray blazer, a button-up-style white shirt, and a pair of matching trousers to the blazer, over a pair of business-style shoes. He had the blazer unbuttoned, and the top two buttons to his shirt were unbuttoned, as well, at present. On his left wrist, there was a normal-looking watch that he'd also swiped minutes before.

Then he went for a walk to a nearby street-level open-air cafe that he'd just overheard talking about as if he belonged in Accra as a businessman of some sort, finding some Ghanaian money on the way there in various places that was apparently lost or abandoned by those who were strangers to him at the present time, if they wouldn't always be. After a while, he arrived there, and ordered himself a bit of lunch, seeing as it was apparently early in the afternoon, local time. He soon asked for information about Accra, claiming that it was the first time that he'd ever been in its area, after only just hearing about it within the last day or so, at most.

Most around him now were skeptical, at least to a degree, about him, but a few gave him the benefit of the doubt at the current time, and told him about various often popular things in the local area. Especially after he said he was into sports like tennis and soccer, for example. One of them even told him where several well-known schools were in it, and he soon thanked them all for whatever information they told him about Accra and its local area. Not long after that, he left the cafe, and began scoping out the local area as he then saw fit, where and when he could, to the best of his ability at the present time.

Some time later, he came to where his first potential ally was just about to leave his school's campus for the rest of the current day. Seeing as the young man was currently dribbling a soccer ball towards the front gates of his school's grounds, Nephlyte soon said, once the dark-skinned young man was in range of his voice, and nobody else's near himself, "I know a place where you can practice all you want for as long as you can, at any possible time, young man, better than anywhere you've been before."

That young man said, "I doubt that, stranger."

"Follow me, and I can show you. Your associates don't think you're the best athlete at your school it seems, from what I was able to overhear of them as you were leaving your school's main building for the rest of the day."

"I'm the best athlete in the whole school, and they know that," challenged the roughly 16½-year-old boy, as he now got a bit fancy with his dribbling of the soccer ball near him.

Nephlyte waved his right hand as if he thought the boy was trying to fool him, while the other was hiding temporarily in a pocket, secretly fingering a device of some sort hidden there, before somehow seeming to project a series of images out of his now-visible hand in a yet-unknown manner that would hopefully trick Cricket into believing him here onto nearby wooden, stone, and/or metallic walls or various projections. Even if those images weren't actually being projected out of Nephlyte's now-visible hand, in truth.

Cricket soon viewed those images, in considerable numbers and for a long enough time, before Nephlyte suddenly moved within a few yards, at most, of him. And it wasn't too much later, then, when Nephlyte suddenly did some rather fancy footwork of his own, and knocked the soccer ball away from Cricket.

Nephlyte then proceeded to draw Cricket away from his school and various other nearby buildings to it by periodically playing keep-away with his ball until they were both quite alone with each other somewhere else in the local area. After they were, Nephlyte then suddenly snapped his fingers, and secretly enclosed Cricket within an invisible dome of some sort, before then kicking the ball back to him much to Cricket's great surprise here. Seconds later, at most, then, it seemed that they were now on a practice field, and among several other people. Although Cricket didn't yet know that they weren't actually people, but Negaverse creations, more often than not, at the present time.

It wasn't long before Nephlyte tricked Cricket into believing that he'd be the captain of a new sports organization consisting of people from all over the world, or at least one of them. In truth, Nephlyte currently had other plans for him in the near future, but Cricket didn't yet know that, if he ever would, in his own life.

Those plans of Nephlyte's would ideally lead to Cricket and others ultimately becoming major nemeses of those on Darien's side of things in Japan and elsewhere. That was only supposing, though, that all, or at least enough, went sufficiently according to plan, of course, for the Negaverse and those in it and attempting to aid and protect it from any and and all possible harm.

In time, Nephlyte had to release Cricket from the area in which they were both now located, so as not to potentially arouse any and all possible suspicion about any number of things that might relate in any possible to Cricket or those around him at any time. But he had now begun to work on Cricket's mind, et cetera, just the same, hoping that Cricket wouldn't try to do anything that Nephlyte and others around him at any possible time, or at least not for a very long will, most likely not want him to do at any such time or times, for sure.

That done, after Cricket left the area in which he had secretly been contained for a while, Nephlyte soon left Accra and its local area behind again, so as to then continue seeking out even more potential allies for the Negaverse to use in the future as best as possible. After Accra, he went to Tel Aviv, having detected another potential ally for the Negaverse, and began the process of recruiting Dawn Gabriel as part of his mission to recruit potential allies. She didn't commit to definitely helping him out, but she still was at least somewhat interested in perhaps causing mischief for any number of other people, whether she knew them yet or not in her life.

After Tel Aviv, Nephlyte then detected a third potential ally in Aberdeen, Scotland. One hour after that, Alexander Soltini had been found and the process of recruiting him to help the Negaverse had begun, courtesy of Nephlyte and a number of secret Negaverse monsters who disguised themselves as humans for the time being, at least.

Finally, before Nephlyte and several of his monsters ultimately called it a night, so to speak, they located a fourth potential ally, on the streets of Los Angeles, during a short lunch break from her school somewhere in downtown Los Angeles, who was quite willing to see what she could do to actually help Nephlyte cause trouble in any number of places, whether in the United States or not. Her name was Alicia Edison, and Nephlyte gladly promised her that she'd have plenty of chances, most likely, to do just that for herself in many places all over the world. Which then pleased her quite considerably. For she really didn't like often being told what to do by many other people in her life, not even her parents or teachers, for instance, at that, if she didn't actually have to be by them, or even if she had to be by them. She happily accepted his then-coming offer to try and train her as a better fighter, at least, if not as anything else as well. Or at least she did so for the time being, anyway. And by logical extension, even though she didn't yet know of Queens Beryl or Metallia, nor of the other Negaverse Generals, or of her potential future teammates, she also accepted that both Queens would still rank over her, at least for now, by allying herself now with Nephlyte.

With the process of recruiting potential allies to the Negaverse's side now begun, Nephlyte finally teleported back to the Negaverse, and retired to his rooms for several hours, not to rise again until at least 10 in the morning of Thursday, September 13, 1990, Tokyo time. Several of his youma remained awake and stood guard nearby as he slept, so as to protect him from those who might be allied with one of the other four Negaverse Generals besides Nephlyte in the Negaverse.

* * *

Hours later, after everyone still of school age had gone to and left school for the day, Jadeite and his monsters teleported into the vicinity of the building complex that he and his allies would try to capture for the Negaverse as a potential future base of operations for it. Assuming human appearances where needed, and when needed, prior to the scheduled time of the attack, if they weren't already human in actual nature, they all soon appeared in the area, and waited a while for potential energy sources to show up there in time.

As the day started turning to night, the area around the building complex became considerably more active, even if it wasn't in parts of it immediately surrounding that complex. Sensing that activity was then picking up, several youma soon notified Jadeite, and he said, "Not yet. We need at least 200 or so people within a quarter mile of here who seem suitable enough for our purposes. Especially when our enemies may be trying to find us now, for that matter. Stay in your disguises until I say otherwise."

So the youma stayed in them for a while longer, waiting. As they were waiting, Wanderer was unexpectedly seen flying around the area, and two youma spotted him. They sent word to Jadeite, but he said, "Wait. See if the hedgehog shows up nearby as well, or our known human opponent." So they let Wanderer be, at least for now, and continued to wait, hoping that the hedgehog and/or Earth Knight might eventually show up, as well, in short order.

However, Seeker was elsewhere, but still somewhere near the building complex where none of Jadeite's youma had yet detected him, at the moment. And he was hoping they'd not detect him for a while longer yet, because he didn't want to potentially get caught by them before he could relay what he knew to either Darien or Wanderer, if not both, about anything relevant at the current time.

As for Darien, he was currently driving a truck full of supplies he'd just procured to the building location, as Darien, and not as Earth Knight. The nearby assembled youma let him pass by and enter it, not yet knowing that he was actually himself Earth Knight now. And they waited, after first notifying Jadeite of that human's arrival at the building complex. Darien then proceeded to unload the truck over the next twenty or so minutes, before departing the complex again, but only temporarily. A number of the things he had just unloaded were youma-detectors that a number of Hitomi's unknown associates had begun developing and creating, in fact, for instance. Once he was far enough away to not be detected very easily, if at all, by any likely nearby youma or Jadeite, he secretly summoned both Wanderer and Seeker back to him, and then patiently waited to see what would happen next.

He didn't have to wait more than another forty minutes before Jadeite finally sprung his trap, and took hundreds of people captive in a nearby building, before whisking them all to the building complex that Darien had just left behind not long before. Once Darien and his animal allies realized this, and once it was safe enough for Darien to transform, Darien then became Earth Knight yet again, just before letting Hitomi know Jadeite had just sprung his next trap where it had been expected to be laid.

Earth Knight and his allies began trying to aid those in the warehouse section first, which was north of the factory section of the building complex they were now in. Jilurals that they were first having to face often had many venomous spines, for instance, on themselves, so they were also having to try and avoid them from time to time during the fight they were now fighting. Especially with several of them around all three of them at the same time, at that. They each took some hits from the Jilurals and a certain number of Sconds when trying to avoid various tentacles of the Jilurals that weren't already in the process of trying to drain life energy from a number of human captives of theirs. Ultimately, though, after more than an hour and a half of fighting, which was often quite fierce in its nature, Earth Knight and his two animal allies somehow still managed to clear the warehouse part of the building complex and free those being held there easily enough. Although they were all quite tired from the battle they were still in the midst of here, they still pressed on, even while trying to deal with the still-lasting effects of battling the monsters they'd just disposed of so far.

Wanderer, Seeker, and Earth Knight then moved to the other part of the building complex through the three connecting areas, each of them passing through one of those areas, to it, so that they'd all not be attacked at the same time while passing through them. Wanderer took the west one, Earth Knight the center one, and then Seeker took the east one.

When they got there, most of their youma opponents that were left were Sconds, with the remainder being surviving or still-unfought Jilurals that Jadeite had left to work with here. Not more than a few moments later, though, they were all suddenly attacked by several Sconds, who even began to emit stench-like smells quite often towards them and/or their current captives. Not even a number of launched roses from Earth Knight was able to block out the smells entirely that they were now emitting periodically in the fight.

He often tried to shield himself and his face from those smells with his cape, when and where possible, but was not entirely successful, seeing as those smells were coming from multiple directions at once. So he and his animal allies tried to avoid them as much as possible, while still fighting here. It took quite a while for the three of them to gain major ground in the factory part of the complex, but eventually, when they were somehow able to rescue a number of additional captives and get them out of the immediate fighting area enough, they began to do so. Sconds and what were left of the Jilurals soon began to fall and/or panic to a degree, as Earth Knight and his allies began to whittle into their numbers and rescue more captives. Especially after Hitomi showed up in some sort of disguise, along with several others, and joined the fight. Although Earth Knight didn't know that just yet here, and likely wouldn't for some time.

Eventually, though, all the Sconds and Jilurals had either been destroyed, killed, or forced to withdraw, much to Jadeite's quite considerable displeasure, at least. Not only that, but the corpses of a number of them were unexpectedly still left behind well enough in conditions that might potentially allow Hitomi and others with her to study them and/or do things with them in the future, so as to perhaps be better able to develop defenses against them in it, if they ever showed up again at various fights in it. Jadeite and his surviving youma tried to not leave any of their fellow youma behind for others to find easily enough, if at all, but little did they know that another group of youma had prevented them from doing so. Most specifically, a number of them who were especially loyal to Nephlyte now.

Once Queen Beryl learned that Jadeite had unintentionally left a number of youma behind while escaping to fight another day, she was quite understandably furious with him, and soon chewed him out quite extensively. The youma who told on Jadeite about that sort of thing were secretly in alliance with Nephlyte, for they had all been ordered not to divulge their true allegiance to him around most other known Negaverse-affiliated youma, not even to certain others currently in league and supporting him publicly, or to either Beryl or Metallia, at least for the time being, for various reasons only known to Nephlyte himself now.

As for all those people that the various youma had earlier taken captive, they all eventually regained their stolen life energy, at least to a degree, and returned home to their respective residences, no matter where they were in the Tokyo area. Once they were all seen to as needed and as appropriate, if necessary, and had cleared the area well enough, Earth Knight and his animal allies then powered down, and returned to their non-combat appearances, with Jadeite and many others none the wiser.

Shortly thereafter, Darien encountered Hitomi, also no longer disguised, in the company of a number of her friends, and she secretly passed him a few slips of paper with notes and other information on them that she thought he'd need to know from now on. He took those slips of paper from her silently, and hid them all on his person at first, then in his subspace pocket moments later. Their encounter lasted only a few seconds at most, and then it was over, with her having passed by his position in a very fast manner, at a run, along with those then with her.

He only retrieved the slips of paper from his pocket after he and his two animal companions were safely alone again in his apartment behind locked doors and windows and closed curtains, et cetera. After they'd all read them at considerable length and discussed the contents of them for quite a while, even while having supper with each other, Darien then put those slips of paper back into his subspace pocket, where they would then stay until such time as they would again need to be re-viewed by him and/or others then around him at any time.

Hours later, at most, Darien retired for the night. While Wanderer and Seeker were soon let out to patrol the local area for a while, once it was safe enough for them to be let out of his apartment again through his balcony, even while Darien was still sleeping in his own bed there.

End of Chapter Four

* * *

Sorry for the rather long delay in the posting of this chapter, folks. I am planning to get back to posting more content for this story soon, but am still working through a number of other things at the present time. And it may be a while longer still before I don't have to work on them, if I won't actually have to work on them for the rest of my life instead.

So now Nephlyte has begun working on his mission, and he doesn't get along well with Jadeite. It will be interesting to see what might happen if and when Jadeite ever learns that some youma allied with Nephlyte made sure that some of his own youma were left behind after the fight at the building complex, for instance, don't you think, folks? We'll have to see how things continue to develop between Jadeite and Nephlyte, and between the youma under the control of either of them, or between the youma with allegiances to other Generals in the Negaverse, won't we?

Don't expect to often see much of Cricket and Nephlyte's other potential recruits, though, until after Darien gets his first known teammates, people, at the very earliest. There are going to be at least three more fights before Nephlyte starts sending out Cricket and others on missions, and he'll probably not do that until Beryl is tired of Jadeite's failures in battle, I think.

Well, that's perhaps enough for now, at least. I'll return to this story again as soon as I can, Lord willing, people, I expect. Shalom. TUS out.


End file.
